Senate Bill 2972 established time, place and manner restrictions on expressive activity on college campuses in Texas. The Paisano interviewed Right to Rebel, an organization that has held protests on UT San Antonio’s Main Campus, for its response to the bill. The spokesperson for RTR has requested to remain anonymous.
The bill was filed by Republican Senator Brandon Creighton on March 14 in response to pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses last year. It was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20 and went into effect on Sept. 1.
RTR is a “revolutionary youth organization in San Antonio, Texas.” It is not an official student organization under UT San Antonio, according to the spokesperson.
“We have deliberately not registered as a student organization because what we understand as the structure for registered student organizations, at least in the case of an organization trying to have openly revolutionary politics, would be to control or corral those politics into dead ends,” they said.
According to the bill, expressive activities include “assemblies, protests, speeches, the distribution of written material, and the carrying of signs and the circulation of petitions.”
The restrictions placed on expressive activities include using a device to amplify sound during class hours; expressive activities during the last two weeks of a semester; expressive activities on campus between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m; camping or erecting tents on campus; wearing a mask, facial covering, disguise or other means of concealing a person’s identity; and lowering the the U.S. or Texas flag to raise another nation’s or organization’s flag.
Additionally, students and employees will be required to present proof of identity and status at the institution on request by a peace officer engaging in an official duty.
On RTR’s Instagram posts, the faces of participating members are covered in masks and blurred. The spokesperson explained why.
“We try to censor our faces mainly in terms of trying to make it more difficult to repress our organization,” the spokesperson said. “We try our best to talk to people and be personable and have all of our work face the masses, but not directly face the police.”
Institutions must now establish disciplinary sanctions for students, student organizations or employees who interfere with the expressive activities of others or violate an institution policy or state law. A grievance procedure for addressing complaints of a violation must be established as well.
The spokesperson opted not to discuss the organization’s plans to conduct protests on UT San Antonio campuses.
“We don’t necessarily have the strongest idea of what on-campus work will look like this semester, specifically in terms of police repression,” the spokesperson said. “We want to do what the masses are willing to do. If people are angry, we want to be angry with them. If people are willing to do X, Y, or Z and need leadership, we’re not going to deny that to them. But we’re also not going to disclose those plans publicly.”
Chapter 9.37 of UT San Antonio’s “Handbook of Operating Procedures” titled “Peaceful Public Assembly” contains the university’s policies as of Aug. 29 on expressive activity and disciplinary sanctions for violations. To view the policies, visit utsa.edu/hop/.
