Campus Speech ‘Guarantee’ Comes With An Overnight Expression Ban

The text as introduced · 1,009 words

89R11622 RDR-F

By: Creighton
S.B. No. 2972

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to expressive activities at public institutions of higher

education.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Sections 51.9315(a)(2), (3), and (4), Education

Code, are amended to read as follows:

(2) "Expressive activities" means any speech or

expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United

States Constitution or by Section 8, Article I, Texas Constitution,

and includes assemblies, protests, speeches, the distribution of

written material, the carrying of signs, and the circulation of

petitions. The term does not include :

(A) commercial speech ;

(B) defamation;

(C) unlawful harassment;

(D) incitement to imminent unlawful activity;

(E) obscenity; or

(F) threats to engage in unlawful activity .

(3) "Governing board" and "institution [ "Institution ]

of higher education" have [ has ] the meanings [ meaning ] assigned by

Section 61.003.

(4) "Student organization" includes any organization

that is composed [ mostly ] of students enrolled at an institution of

higher education and that receives a benefit from the institution.

SECTION 2. Section 51.9315, Education Code, is amended by

amending Subsections (b), (c), (d), and (f) and adding Subsections

(d-1) and (k) to read as follows:

(b) It is the policy of this state and the purpose of this

section to protect the expressive rights of persons guaranteed by

the constitutions of the United States and of this state by:

(1) recognizing freedom of speech and assembly as

central to the mission of institutions of higher education; and

(2) ensuring that students enrolled at and employees

of an institution of higher education [ all persons ] may assemble

peaceably on the campuses of the institution [ institutions of

higher education ] for expressive activities, including to listen to

or observe the expressive activities of others.

(c) An institution of higher education shall[ :

[ (1) ensure that the common outdoor areas of the

institution's campus are deemed traditional public forums; and

[ (2) ] permit students enrolled at and employees of the

institution [ any person ] to engage in expressive activities in the

common outdoor [ those ] areas of the institution's campus freely, as

long as the expressive activity [ person's conduct ]:

(1) [ (A) ] is not unlawful; and

(2) [ (B) ] does not materially and substantially

disrupt the functioning of the institution.

(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (c), an institution of

higher education may adopt a policy that imposes reasonable

restrictions on the time, place, and manner of expressive

activities of students enrolled at and employees of the institution

in the common outdoor areas of the institution's campus if those

restrictions:

(1) are narrowly tailored to serve a significant

institutional interest;

(2) employ clear, published, content-neutral, and

viewpoint-neutral criteria;

(3) provide for ample alternative means of expression;

and

(4) allow students enrolled at and employees of the

institution [ members of the university community ] to assemble or

distribute written material without a permit or other permission

from the institution.

(d-1) The governing board of an institution of higher

education may designate the areas on the institution's campus that

are public forums, consistent with the First Amendment to the

United States Constitution and Section 8, Article I, Texas

Constitution.

(f) Each institution of higher education shall adopt a

policy detailing [ students' ] rights and responsibilities regarding

expressive activities at the institution. The policy must:

(1) allow:

(A) students enrolled at and employees of the

institution [ any person ] to, subject to reasonable restrictions

adopted under Subsection (d), engage in expressive activities on

campus, including by responding to the expressive activities of

others; and

(B) student organizations and faculty to,

subject to Subsection (h), invite speakers to speak on campus;

(2) prohibit:

(A) using a device to amplify sound while

engaging in expressive activities on campus during class hours;

(B) engaging in expressive activities on campus

during the last two weeks of a semester or term;

(C) camping or erecting tents or other living

accommodations on campus;

(D) wearing a mask, facial covering, disguise, or

other means of concealing a person's identity while engaging in

expressive activities on campus with the intent to:

(i) obstruct the enforcement of the

institution's rules or the law by avoiding identification;

(ii) intimidate others; or

(iii) interfere with an institution

employee's or a peace officer's lawful performance of a duty;

(E) lowering the institution's flag of the United

States or of this state with the intent to raise the flag of another

nation or a flag representing an organization or group of people;

and

(F) engaging in expressive activities on campus

between the hours of 10 p.m. and 8 a.m.;

(3) [ (2) ] establish disciplinary sanctions for

students, student organizations, or employees [ faculty ] who unduly

interfere with the expressive activities of others on campus or

violate an institution policy or state law ;

(4) [ (3) ] include a grievance procedure for

addressing complaints of a violation of this section;

(5) require students enrolled at or employees of the

institution to present proof of identity and status at the

institution on request by a peace officer on the institution's

campus engaging in an official duty;

(6) [ (4) ] be approved by a majority vote of the

institution's governing board before final adoption; and

(7) [ (5) ] be posted on the institution's Internet

website.

(k) Nothing in this section limits the authority of an

institution of higher education to adopt rules differentiating

between the rights of students and employees to engage in

expressive activities on campus and those of persons not affiliated

with the institution.

SECTION 3. Section 51.9315, Education Code, as amended by

this Act, applies beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.