Free speech debate culminates in Turning Point vote

Texas State University served as a microcosm in the debate over free speech on campuses Monday night when the Student Government Senate passed a resolution banning Turning Point USA from campus. However, despite the vote, university policy would keep the organization on campus unless the administration places it under disciplinary sanction.

The free speech battle is reflected in an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on the issue and in a bill working its way through the Texas Legislature. Senate Bill 18, authored by Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston), has received bipartisan support, with senators including Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels) and Judith Zaffirini (D-Laredo) named as coauthors. The bill, which passed in the Senate and was sent to the House Committee on Higher Education on March 28, would require public institutions to adopt clear policies regarding students’ rights and responsibilities when it comes to free speech and “expressive activities.” The bill states that higher education institutions “may not take action against a student organization or deny the organization any benefit generally available to other student organizations at the institution on the basis of a political, religious, philosophical, ideological, or academic viewpoint expressed by the organization or of any expressive activities of the organization.” The bill also states that an institution may only consider “content-neutral and viewpoint-neutral criteria” such as the expected audience size and any anticipated need for campus security. Institutions may not consider “any anticipated controversy related to the event.”

Texas State is not the only university where free speech battles are playing out. There is a petition online urging Baylor University to bar conservative blogger Matt Walsh from speaking on campus there. Walsh’s appearance is at the invitation of Baylor Young Americans for Freedom, a conservative group. His speech is titled, “The War on Reality: Why the Left Has Set Out to Redefine Life, Gender, and Marriage.”

“This cannot be allowed to take place,” the petition states. “Please remove this from campus events. For the benefit of all LGBTP+ students, alumni and future students, this harmful hate speech must be kept off of our beloved campus.”

Texas State proceedings

At the Texas State Student Senate meeting, comments on the issue lasted for more than an hour and included numerous speakers on both sides of the issue as well as some simply calling for civil discussion.

Former Texas State lecturer Kelly Stone, who has filed a grievance against the university stemming from the behavior of a student she believes was aligned with Turning Point USA, spoke about harassment of herself and her students.

“Last night I was told to stop talking about periods, so I know how free speech works,” Stone said, but the Turning Point USA discussion is “not about free speech. This is about harassment.”

Stone spoke about the student mentioned in her grievance and some of the remarks she made in class regarding transgender people and victims of sexual assault.

“It’s not liberal to teach people how to use condoms. It’s not liberal to teach people to ask for ‘yes’ and the importance of that,” Stone said. “However, it’s also not liberal to humanize people and their experience.”

In a discussion about gender identity, Stone said, she was told by a student that she could not say that transgender people were not pedophiles. When members of the class spoke about their experiences with sexual assault, the student said they were lying, “that it’s a scary time for boys, that their feelings didn’t matter.”

A member of the Freshman Council then spoke against removing Turning Point USA from the Texas State campus for several reasons, including a fear that it will make harassment of students worse.

“By kicking them off campus, I believe we’re proving their point,” he said.

Moreover, he argued, “Our job as student government is to represent all students, including those who voted for Trump.”

His statement prompted chants of “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA” from the crowd. 

Stormi Rodriguez, president of the Texas State Chapter of Turning Point USA, also spoke. After she introduced herself, an audience member immediately yelled an expletive. Chants and shouts broke out repeatedly while Rodriguez was at the podium.

“This piece is a joke, and it makes Student Government look like a joke,” she said. 

She also said that state politicians have voiced support for Turning Point USA and that attempts to silence the organization have only made it more popular.

“When my organization has larger events, when there are more of us out in the Quad … know that it is because of you,” she said. 

The president of the Texas State chapter of the Young Conservatives of Texas said the measure would set a “dangerous precedent” regarding free speech at Texas State and that there should be a clear definition of what constitutes harassment.

“You have to have some sort of actual line drawn,” he said.

Other students spoke out against Turning Point USA, citing incidents of harassment that they have experienced or seen.

“Once your speech becomes incendiary … it no longer becomes free speech,” a co-chair of the campus chapter of the Young Democratic Socialists of America said, “and that is not protected by the constitution.”

The senate narrowly approved the measure to ban Turning Point USA from campus, called “The Faculty and Student Safety Resolution of 2019.” An amendment to merely suspend the organization while Student Government investigates its activities was proposed but did not pass. 

Student Government’s authority

Despite the Student Government vote, university administrators have said that the body does not have the authority to remove a student organization from campus. Last week when the legislation proposing to ban Turning Point USA was introduced, Texas State issued a statement:

“While Student Government exercised its right to act on a resolution put forth on April 1 to bar a recognized student organization from Texas State campuses, established University policy states that student organizations can only be barred if they are under disciplinary sanctions. Student Government does not have the authority to independently bar a recognized student organization. The organization named in the resolution voted on during the regular April 8 Student Government meeting is not currently under disciplinary sanction. Following University policy, the organization will not be barred from Texas State campuses. Texas State supports the constitutional rights of all of our students, faculty, staff and visitors.”

Claudia Gasponi, who authored the piece, called the vote “only a small victory.”

“As grateful as I am that Student Government is finally starting to represent the student body, it is only a small victory as our university administration still blatantly and intentionally ignores student needs and student voices,” she said. “Students will wonder why Turning Point USA is still on campus after they fought so hard to have it removed; the answer to their concern is that the administration cares more for the opinions of donors than for the well-being and safety of our student body.”

Other conservative groups have accused Turning Point USA of fostering ties to white supremacists, and an investigation by the University Star revealed connections between the organization’s Campus Leadership Project and previous members of Texas State’s Student Government.