A new executive order from Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) that is supposed to direct college campuses to combat antisemitism is actually going to hurt efforts to stop antisemitism while undermining free speech and the elimination of bureaucracies dedicated to “diversity, equity, and inclusion.”
On Wednesday, Abbott signed an executive order that requires all colleges in Texas to “review their free speech policies” and ensure that they have established “appropriate punishments for antisemitic rhetoric.” The executive order also indicates that punishing students for antisemitism should include expulsion.
While Abbott’s desire to confront antisemitism on campus is admirable, this executive order misses the mark rather significantly.
At a time when Abbott has blazed a trail in dismantling the diversity, equity, and inclusion departments at Texas universities, this executive order now calls on the administrative staff of institutions to more aggressively police the speech of students. In other words, the very opposite of what the push to eliminate DEI has sought to do.
By giving school administrators a mandate to police student speech, Abbott is not just harming his own efforts to combat DEI, he is also harming the fight against antisemitism.
Harassment has a very clear legal definition. It must be offensive to any reasonable person, and must be severe and pervasive. A member of the Students for Justice in Palestine club who repeatedly screams in the face of a Jewish student and accuses him of genocide for supporting Israel is clearly violating this conduct standard.
But if instead, the student is simply chanting offensive slogans at no one in particular and making a fool of himself on the campus quad, there is no role for university officials to insert themselves and discipline the student for such behavior, even if it is objectionable. In fact, that kind of outrageous behavior does more to undermine the activist’s cause than any discipline that a university official could levy.
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A good guide to the problem with Abbott’s standard is how it would be applied in other situations. For example, an atheist who yells that all Catholics are pedophiles is harassing Catholics and would be punished. Likewise, a Christian who proclaims that people in same-sex relationships are offending God would be deemed a harasser and could face punishment.
But neither student should be punished, just as the obnoxious blowhard shouting anti-Israel slogans should not be punished. Instead of policing the conduct of these antisemitic activists, Abbott should look into why the culture of Texas colleges has allowed that kind of behavior to be seen as normal.