COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — A proposed Senate bill could impose new restrictions on student protests at public universities, including Texas A&M.
- Texas Senate Bill 2972 would restrict student protests at public universities.
- The bill sets rules on who can protest, and when, where, and how protests can take place.
- It has passed the Legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
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"I do enjoy the college campus being peaceful and there's a kind of a place for you to express yourself as well too, but I guess really in life, there's always going to be rules and regulations as well too, even when it comes to freedom of speech," Martin Craig, TAMU student said.
Protests like this may soon have restrictions at Texas A&M.
"I feel like there's middle ground between it, but I think everyone deserves the right to protest. It just can get complicated with certain topics," TAMU student Madison Besecker said.
Senate Bill 2972 aims to add limitations to protests at Texas public universities to enhance safety for students.
"As long as you're not being violent, again, then why are you going to stop them? It's not harming anybody," TAMU student Daxtar Kowski said. "They should be allowed to protest when they want to protest. It doesn't matter."
The proposed limitations govern who can protest, where and when protests can happen, and specifically how students can protest.
"I think this would be a great idea. At certain times, certain areas that you should protest. I think that would be very beneficial to A&M," Besecker said.
While some students appreciate Texas lawmakers for prioritizing safety.
"Some people pay to send their kids off to faraway college, and one of those things, when you're 18 or 25 years old, you wanna know that they're in a safe place so they can learn and flourish and really come into their own as adults," Craig said.
Others believe this attacks students' rights.
"I think it's the start of like a gateway into maybe adding more and more restrictions on peaceful protests, and it would again limit their First Amendment right to protest," Kowski said. "I mean, in other schools it might be a problem, and they could talk about it there, but here, at least at Texas A&M, everything seems to be fine as it is."
