Texas lawmakers on Thursday will hold their first hearing to review speech on public universities after some reactions on campuses celebrating or mocking the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk drew ire from Republican leaders.
Kirk was killed on Sept. 10 while speaking at a college in Utah. State leaders announced the formation of bipartisan committees to discuss campus speech and related policies two days later. The Senate and House Select Committee on Civil Discourse and Freedom of Speech in Higher Education will convene jointly Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in Austin and take invited testimony only.
According to the agenda, lawmakers plan to hear testimony on “encouragement of civil discourse and freedom of speech on, and protection from undue administrative censorship by, the state’s college campuses.” They will also take testimony on the implementation of Senate Bill 37, a new law that increases state oversight of university curriculum and operations, as well as campus safety measures related to public events.
“We are going to take a look at what we know is behavior that should not happen,” Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, who chairs the Senate panel, said about the upcoming hearing during a recent Texas Tribune event at Lone Star College-University Park. “We are going to take a look at what the Constitution says should be able to happen, and we are going to try to come up with a good solution.”
Bettencourt said lawmakers want to hear from people directly involved in recent campus controversies. He pointed specifically to Devion Canty Jr., a student who says he was forced to withdraw from Texas State University after a video of him appearing to mimic Kirk’s assassination went viral in September.
“It’s exactly why I want him to testify, because he went through everything,” Bettencourt said. “He acted out, you know, got busted out of school, apologized, opened a GoFundMe account, and he wants to come back.”
Bettencourt told the Tribune on Monday that Canty ultimately was not invited to testify after the committee saw social media posts indicating he had left Texas “for his own safety.” Canty did not respond to a request for comment.
“When we saw that post, that’s when we just said ‘forget it,’” Bettencourt said. “I don’t want to put people in danger or have somebody feel pressured to testify.”
Instead, lawmakers invited Texas State University’s student body president, who Bettencourt said has agreed to appear. He said the committee expects between 12 and 15 invited witnesses, including representatives from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, along with university legal counsels, administrators and students from Texas State, University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.
The incident with Canty drew statewide attention after Gov. Greg Abbott urged Texas State to “expel this student immediately,” saying that “mocking assassination must have consequences.” A few hours later, the university said Canty was no longer enrolled. Canty told the student newspaper he was given the choice to withdraw or be expelled.
Legal experts have said the behavior seen on video, which was offensive to many, is still likely protected by the First Amendment.
Other incidents tied to reactions over Kirk’s death have also prompted state action. At Texas Tech University, a student was arrested on a misdemeanor charge of simple assault after allegedly striking the cap off a Kirk supporter; the university later confirmed the student is no longer enrolled. At the University of North Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation after a student said her classmates celebrated Kirk’s killing. Paxton is accusing the university of failing to discipline those involved.
The scrutiny comes amid new data suggesting that many students are open to taking action against speech they disagree with. A national survey released by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression on Sept. 9, a day before Kirk’s killing, found that one-third of students said it is at least “rarely” acceptable to use violence to stop a campus speech, and larger shares said it was acceptable to shout speakers down or block access to events.
Before Kirk was killed, lawmakers had already tightened rules around campus expression in response to the pro-Palestinian protests last year. Senate Bill 2972, which took effect Sept. 1, restricts overnight expression, limits amplified sound during class hours and narrows where protests can occur on campus. A federal judge temporarily blocked the University of Texas System from enforcing parts of the law, with the judge saying students were likely to succeed on their claim that the restrictions violate the First Amendment. The UT System is appealing the ruling.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University, Texas Tech University, University of North Texas, University of Texas System and University of Texas at Austin have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.
