The University of Texas at Austin has opened an Event Readiness and Response Team to balance free speech rights with upholding university policies. It offers support and educational guidance on students’ rights and responsibilities related to campus demonstrations. The unit works with student organizations from start to finish so their events comply with campus policies while also giving students an opportunity for expressive activity.
“They can go to a space on campus and they can have their expressive activity and sometimes with what’s going on in life and the culture and events, those spur-of-the-moment things happen and we encourage them to act appropriately on those moments so that their voice can be heard,” Joe LoBrutto, director of the team, told KXAN. “We look at those time, place and manner considerations.”
Partnering with the Event Readiness and Response Team remains optional for student organizations, according to UT’s Assistant Vice President of University Communications Mike Rosen, yet upholding the law and university rules is not. Some students told KXAN they’ve decided to move ahead with events without partnering with the unit due to lack of trust.
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