AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) Student groups from The University of Texas at Austin and Dallas filed a lawsuit Wednesday against their schools’ presidents, UT System Chancellor Dr. John Zerwas and the system’s Board of Regents, over a state law that prohibits speech on campus during certain times.

affiliate KXAN reached out to the UT System to comment on the lawsuit.

“The UT System has not reviewed the lawsuit yet, and because it is a matter of litigation, we are not able to offer additional comment at this time,” it said. Defendants typically have 21 days to file a response to a lawsuit.

The lawsuit, brought by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, argues that a newly enacted state law infringes students’ constitutional rights. It asks the U.S. District Court in Austin to issue a temporary injunction against enforcement until a ruling is made.

“The First Amendment doesn’t set when the sun goes down,” said JT Morris, FIRE senior supervising attorney, in a press release announcing the lawsuit. “University students have expressive freedom whether it’s midnight or midday, and Texas can’t just legislate those constitutional protections out of existence.”

Morris is the lead attorney for the plaintiff student organizations. Those are UT Dallas groups Fellowship of Christian University Students (FOCUS), student newspaper The Retrograde and music club Strings Attached, as well as UT Austin’s Society of Unconventional Drummers. Conservative student group Young Americans For Liberty, Inc. (YAL), which has branches at multiple Texas schools, also joined the lawsuit.

About the law being challenged

Senate Bill 2972 went into effect Monday. It requires public universities ban “any speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment” that happens on campus between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. It also prohibits sound amplification, percussion instruments and invited speakers from campus during the last two weeks of academic terms.

SB 2979 was authored by Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton, who is set to become Texas Tech’s next chancellor.

In his bill analysis, Creighton specifically referred to the April 2024 pro-Palestine campaign on campuses nationwide and the ensuing “massive disruption.” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott deployed the state’s Department of Public Safety to stop the protest at UT Austin.

The above video originally aired on KXAN on April 24, 2024. It covered a protest at UT Austin, which was cited as one of the reasons behind SB 2972.

The law followed a 2019 state law, SB 18, which strengthened free speech protections on campus. That bill was passed amid Republican claims of free speech infringement on campuses.

Prayers, reporting, music: What students could lose

FIRE called the extent of SB 2972 “shocking” and claimed students could face discipline for wearing clothes with political messages, playing music, writing, attending candlelight vigils or talking with friends at night. The law could also apply to celebrations after athletic victories.

Adam Steinbaugh, another FIRE attorney, said in the release that SB 2972 “gives campus administrators a blank check to punish speech, and that authority will inevitably be used to target unpopular speech.”

The students gave examples of activities they claim would be banned under the law:

• FOCUS invites pastors onto campus to lead prayers during finals week;
• The Retrograde often works after 10 p.m. on gathering and reporting the news;
• YAL holds “free speech balls” and protests in the evenings, and invites speakers;
• Society Of Unconventional Drummers holds performances using percussion instruments; and,
• Strings Attached’s concerts, typically held during proscribed times.

FOCUS Committee Chair Juke Matthews, a UT Dallas student, said SB 2972 takes away Christian students’ “support system right at the most stressful time of the term.”

“Under these new rules, we’re at risk of being shut down simply for posting breaking news as it happens,” said The Retrograde’s Editor-in-Chief Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez in the release. “With that threat hanging over our heads, many student journalists across the UT system face the impossible decision between self-censorship and running a story that criticizes the powers on campus.”

The editorial board of UT Austin’s student newspaper, The Daily Texan, echoed Olivares Gutierrez’ concerns in a June 24 editorial.

UT Dallas’ policies on campus speech specify that violations of its speech policies could lead to discipline for students, faculty and staff. Off-campus persons “may be subject to criminal trespass charges, arrest, or other lawful measures.”