Department of Geography Statement about the 2015 Texas Campus Carry Law

We, the undersigned faculty and staff of the Department of Geography at Texas State University, strongly oppose the 2015 Texas Campus Carry Law that allows concealed handguns in university classrooms, thereby violating the First Amendment rights of faculty and students to free speech.

A law that has a chilling effect on free speech is unconstitutional (First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech”). The Texas Campus Carry law that allows concealed handguns in public university classrooms will have a chilling effect on the free speech of instructors and students and is therefore unconstitutional. The Texas law is essentially censorship of free speech by guns. Second Amendment rights, however, do not take precedence over First Amendment rights.

In 2007, the American Association of University of Professors (AAUP) wrote in “Academic Freedom and the First Amendment”:  “One of the most fertile areas for claims of academic freedom and First Amendment protection is, of course, classroom teaching. Speech by professors in the classroom at public institutions is generally protected under the First Amendment and under the professional concept of academic freedom if the speech is relevant to the subject matter of the course. See, e.g., Kracunas v. Iona College, 119 F.3d 80, 88 & n. 5 (2d Cir. 1997).” Concealed handguns in public Texas university classrooms, laboratories, and other learning environments will chill and harm both instructor and student speech in various academic departments regarding a wide range of such contemporary and germane course topics as race, evolution, climate change, water rights, mass shootings, ethics, gay marriage, abortion, and war.

Further, the introduction of concealed handguns into public university classrooms in Texas, according to the AAUP’s logic in its 2007 white paper, expands the “legislative oversight over what professors may teach . . .” in their courses. In his opinion in Wieman v. Updegraff, 344 U.S. 183 (1952), U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter argued resolutely:

Such unwarranted inhibition upon the free spirit of teachers affects not only those who . . . are immediately before the Court. It has an unmistakable tendency to chill that free play of the spirit which all teachers ought especially to cultivate and practice; it makes for caution and timidity in their associations by potential teachers. . . . Teachers must . . . be exemplars of open-mindedness and free inquiry (AAUP “Academic Freedom and the First Amendment,” 2007).

The admission of handguns into learning environments will also create a climate of emotional fear and distrust. Should Texas State University allow concealed handguns in its classrooms, the institution will thus violate the free speech rights of instructors and students guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Beyond the fundamental breach of free speech rights of faculty and students in university classrooms, Texas State, as an emerging research university, should be seriously concerned about the harm the Texas Campus Carry law will cause to the recruitment and retention of top-tier faculty and students.

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We, the undersigned faculty and staff members of the School of Information at The University of Texas at Austin, are opposed to guns in our classrooms, offices, lobbies, hallways, and laboratories. In our teaching and work spaces—as a means of educating students, expanding research frontiers, and improving school operations. Many courses at the iSchool examine information questions that reflect great political, social, and cultural controversy and that elicit strong emotional responses. Students and instructors will inhibit themselves from engaging such controversy if they fear potential violence that guns in the classroom can bring. Moreover, because guns will create an atmosphere unconductive to the conduct of academic affairs, their presence, even concealed but allowed, will diminish our ability to attract top faculty and staff members as well as students to our school. Ultimately, guns will harm our quest to be the premier research and education program for 21st century information professionals. In setting policy about carrying handguns on campus, we believe that any decisions that affect the physical and financial well-being of the UT community should be made by those with the best knowledge of the campus, its operations, and its constituents. The UT Chancellor, the Texas Association of College and University Police Administrators, and the majority of faculty members, staff members, and students have made their position clear. For all these reasons, we oppose Senate Bill 11, the “campus carry” legislation. Continue reading School of Information Statement on Campus Carry →

November 24, 2015

We, the undersigned members of the Marketing Department at the McCombs School of Business, oppose having guns in classrooms. We fear that armed students in a classroom will make people less safe and will impede the free exchange of ideas. Continue reading Marketing Department Statement against Campus Carry →

The Graduate Student Art History Association (GSAHA) at the University of Texas at Austin stands with the faculty and staff of the Art and Art History department in opposing the implementation of Texas SB11. We believe sanctioning concealed handguns on our campus will be intellectually, physically, and emotionally detrimental to our community. As graduate students, we assume greater levels of risk as we are both students and staff, acting as graders, museum and gallery interns, research assistants, teaching assistants, and assistant instructors. Moreover, most of us are women and many of us are from marginalized communities–groups that are disproportionately victims of gun violence. Indeed, Texas SB11 institutionalizes violence in our society, endowing a huge and grossly unrepresentative portion of the civilian population to have rule over the life and death of others.

Allowing firearms on campus will stunt the academic rigor of our classrooms. Largely object-based, the discipline of art history requires in-depth visual analyses and critical deliberation of art objects. We closely examine objects to discuss and interpret what we see in an effort to understand and appreciate the world views and value systems of past and present civilizations as expressed through their visual cultures. Whether familiar or foreign, these objects have the power to incite strong emotions in viewers. Therefore, cultural understanding and sensitivity are required in our classroom discussions; and educators and students must feel supported, encouraged, and safe to express their views. This is fundamental to our practice as art historians and, thus, it is critical to our academic success. The threat of gun violence in the classroom will intimidate both educators and students. It will hinder free speech and narrow the intellectual scope of the classroom.

In addition, concealed weapons on campus will put women and marginalized communities at increased risk of harm and act as a constant threat of violence. Colleges and universities are places where educated women, ethnic minorities, immigrants, and LGBTQIA communities often question, examine, and dismantle systems of power and inequity. It is these very demographic populations who are most likely to be the victims of targeted violence. In fact, homicide is the second most likely way for women to die in the workplace, after car accidents. The Art History graduate student body values our diverse identifications of gender, race, nationality, religion, and sexuality; and we denounce intimidation of and violence against women and marginalized peoples.

Lastly, we are concerned about the impact of sanctioned concealed handgun carry on the well-being of students, staff, and faculty who suffer from mental health disorders. Tragically familiar with the intersection of mental illness and academia, the Art and Art History department has been affected by two suicides in the last six years. The concealed carry law will allow guns in dormitories and classrooms; this increased access to firearms is a danger to those who suffer from depression or other mental health issues, especially those with thoughts of suicide. Students are under a lot of pressure, especially at the flagship University of Texas at Austin, and an overwhelming number suffer from depression. Unfortunately, there is a direct correlation between access to firearms and increased suicide, with guns being the most lethal means.

Recognizing that the law is now in its implementation stage, we ask the President of the University to establish broad exclusionary zones in which guns are banned on campus including classrooms, faculty and teaching assistant offices, graduate student lounges, all libraries and dormitories, all performance halls and sports complexes, on-campus daycare and other child education centers, buildings that include health services, and any building where alcohol is served. Continue reading Graduate Student Art History Association Statement on Campus Carry →

We represent the members of the Graduate Coordinator Network (GCN), and we are extremely concerned about the implementation of S.B. 11 at The University of Texas at Austin.  As Graduate Coordinators, we often serve as the first point of contact for graduate students seeking assistance for a variety of academic and non-academic issues.  Graduate students, even more than undergraduates, typically experience a great deal of stress; not only are the academic demands placed on them arduous, they often face financial instability, which not infrequently  impacts their family  relationships.  As a result, we Graduate Coordinators often find ourselves in volatile situations, faced with angry, depressed, and sometimes unstable students. Knowing that these students might be carrying a gun when they enter our offices is not only frightening, but potentially dangerous.  We urge you to include the offices of Graduate Coordinators and other student advisors as part of the “gun-free” zone that will be established on campus.

Thank you for considering our request.  We look forward to working with you in an effort to not only maintain the academic integrity of our campus but to keep it as safe an environment as possible. Continue reading Graduate Coordinator Network Statement on Campus Carry S.B. 11 →