Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, praised Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for signing a campus free speech law banning so-called free speech zones that allow only certain viewpoints to be expressed on college campuses across the state.
“The First Amendment is under constant attack by those who shut down ideas they can’t contend with,” Crenshaw said Monday. “The University is a place for students to grapple with new ideas and opinions, not be coddled.”
The law requires state schools in Texas to use more content-neutral standards when deciding who can come to campus to speak or which student organizations can use official campus resources.
“I shouldn’t have to do it,” Abbott said in a video he recorded as he signed the bill. “The First Amendment guarantees it. Now it’s law in Texas.”
Many national grassroots conservative organizations looking to recruit members say they have been unfairly targeted by what they perceive as biased bureaucracies run by liberal university administrators.
Video of a conservative activist getting punched in the face at a California university went viral this year, inspiring President Trump to announce an executive order on campus free speech.
The First Amendment is under constant attack by those who shut down ideas they can’t contend with. The University is a place for students to grapple with new ideas and opinions, not be coddled.
Good for Texas! https://t.co/rGyGkC9HAR
— Rep. Dan Crenshaw (@RepDanCrenshaw) June 10, 2019
“If a college or university does not allow you to speak, we will not give them money. It’s that simple,” Trump said when he signed the bill in March.
Last month, a smoke bomb interrupted an anti-abortion speech at the University of Texas at Austin.
Weeks later, the Texas State University Student Government proposed banning conservative organization Turning Point USA from recruiting or holding any events on campus.
“Some colleges are banning free speech on college campuses,” Abbott said. “No more.”
