Group demands San Antonio university investigate claims of First Amendment violations

A free speech advocacy group is demanding that the University of Texas at San Antonio open an investigation into allegations that a school official violated students’ First Amendment rights during a pro-Palestinian protest on campus in April.

The nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) sent two letters — one in April and another last month — to UTSA President Taylor Eighmy laying out accusations that Dean of Students LaTonya Robinson barred protesters at an April 24 on-campus demonstration from using certain words and phrases.

UTSA wasn’t available for immediate comment on FIRE’s letters or protesters’ allegations against Robinson.

Specifically, protest organizers and the San Antonio chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation allege Robinson told organizers that using words including “Israel” and “Zionism,” speaking in Arabic, and or chanting “From the river to the sea” would be considered antisemitic hate speech.

Although UTSA initially denied these claims, PSL San Antonio later posted a video of the organizers’ interactions with a person it described as Robinson on its Instagram account.

In that clip, the woman identified as Robinson says the “From the river to the sea” chant is considered hate speech. However, the clip doesn’t show her barring students from using certain words, as alleged by protesters.

“I ask you all not to use that language, and we ask that you all comply with that,” she said in the clip. “If you continue to not comply with that, we will refer you over to the law enforcement agencies that are in our area.”

If Robinson did bar students from using certain words, she violated the student’s First Amendment Rights, FIRE maintains in its correspondence.

“If the students’ report is substantially accurate, the university’s direction raises serious First Amendment concerns,” FIRE’s April 29 letter states. “The First Amendment protects student expression at public universities, ‘no matter how offensive’ it may be to others.”

Word of FIRE’s letters comes weeks after the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) sued Gov. Greg Abbott, along with officials at UTSA and other public universities, for allegedly violating pro-Palestinian protesters’ First Amendment rights during demonstrations in April.

The letters also come as officials at the University of Texas at Austin initiates disciplinary proceedings against students arrested during protests earlier this year, KUT News reports.

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This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.