Free Speech

This week, the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce announced that the Hub City BBQ Cookoff, scheduled as a two day event in September, will not be open to the public this year. The UT System board of regents have approved a measure for faculty to avoid quote “controversial topics.” KUT’s Greta Diaz Gonzalez Vazquez tells us faculty and advocates are worried this might lead to censorship.

This is the latest move by the state to have more control over what is taught at public universities.

An event organized by a student group intended to discuss abortion was cancelled by the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center late last month, after backlash from conservative activists and Turning Point USA at Texas Tech. Now, another free speech group is calling on the TTUHSC to allow them to reschedule the event.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center cancelled an event organized by a student group, set to take place last week featuring a conversation about third-trimester abortion. Our reporter Samantha Larned reports the decision has been met with support and criticism from free speech advocacy groups.

The system’s chancellor meant to instill clarity and accountability, but three weeks into the spring semester, some instructors say the standards have led to “censorship.”

The Texas chapter of the American Federation of Teachers is asking the court to bar the Texas Education Agency from investigating educators for their comments on social media after the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. The Buddy Holly Center is hosting a lecture that coincides with the Lonesome Dove traveling exhibition currently in town. Our new student reporter Charley Maranville explains the presentation is focused on the adaptation and impact of the work. The lecture is Friday, from 6 to 7:30 P.M. at the Buddy Holly Center and the exhibition is open until March 22.

As students return to colleges and universities across Texas, questions remain regarding discussions of gender and race in the classroom and on campus. Our Samantha Larned reports on the latest from the Texas Tech and Texas A&M university systems.

As students return to colleges and universities across the state, questions remain regarding discussions of gender and race on Texas campuses. Faculty with the Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University systems are dealing with the impact of new policies on their class curriculums, as West Texas A&M continues to face legal challenges to its drag performance ban.

Following the Dec. 1 memorandum from Texas Tech University System Chancellor Brandon Creighton, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression sent letters to each of the five presidents within the Tech system, calling upon them not to restrict academic freedom or classroom instruction based on viewpoint.

The Select Committees on Civil Discourse and Freedom of Speech in Higher Education were formed days after Kirk's assassination on a Utah college campus. Members assembled Thursday in Austin for their first meeting to assess state free speech laws.