The University of Texas at Dallas received a firm mandate from two civil liberties organizations last week: stop interfering with the First Amendment rights of student journalists.
The Student Press Law Center and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) sent the university a six-page letter on Nov. 12 that detailed what they believe to be a pattern of retaliatory actions taken against student journalists following the coverage of a Pro-Palestine encampment set up on campus in May. The organizations wrote they are “concerned about the state of free expression, including freedom of the press” at UT Dallas, and urged the university to cease ignoring “its constitutional obligations” to maintain an independent newspaper.
Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez, former editor-in-chief of the student newspaper the Mercury and an occasional Observer contributor, said that he has heard of “panic” among administrators who were surprised by the letter.
“It was something that the university can't really just brush under the rug,” Gutierrez said. “These are groups that are dedicated to the exact thing they're criticizing the university about, so we see that as something that's a boost to the struggle we've had this semester against campus administrators.”
Student journalists involved with the Mercury have been on strike for two months following the removal of Gutierrez as editor-in-chief by administrators. Gutierrez appealed his removal, but administators refused him the opportunity to pursue the appeals process outlined in the Student Media Operating Board bylaws.
“UTD’s removal of Gutierrez and the denial of his appeal are antithetical to basic conceptions of a free student press and incongruous with the public university’s binding legal obligations to uphold Gutierrez’s and other students’ First Amendment rights,” the letter states. “UTD failed to follow even its most basic obligation to follow the policies and procedures its own administrators established.”
In addition to Gutierrez’s removal, the letter lists the demotion of the Mercury’s former staff adviser, the removal of papers from newsstands and interference with “other operational decisions” as evidence of administrators’ retaliatory pattern.
"It appears UTD has retaliated against the paper’s coverage of encampments by ousting its editor-in-chief." — SPLC and FIRE
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The letter outlines a list of “bonafide demands” that could help de-escalate the contentious relationship between UTD administrators and student journalists, said Jonathan Gaston-Falk, a staff attorney with the Student Press Law Center. Those demands include reinstating Gutierrez and amending the student media bylaws to prevent administrative control over published content.
The letter also demands that future elections of the editor-in-chief be conducted by members of the student media instead of administrators.
“Sometimes, instead of just hearing from a student … It's best to hear from the attorneys from whom this advice came in the first place,” Gaston-Falk said. “This might just be the first step in making the demands that we did in our letter. I think that there's a lot more at play, perhaps institutionally, that needs to be addressed.”
Because UT Dallas is a public institution, there is a “possibility” that the university could face a Section 1983 claim — the provision that gives individuals the right to sue government entities for civil rights violations — if positive action is not taken to reinstate an independent press, Gaston-Falk said.
University officials did not respond to the Observer's request for their reaction to the letter. Instead, a spokesperson sent the Observer a copy of a student government resolution that will create an ad hoc committee tasked with rewriting the student media bylaws.
Gutierrez said he believes the formation of the committee, even if well intentioned, has been stalled by bureaucratic red tape.
“While we appreciate the efforts that's being put in, it's also a thing where the campus administrators in that working group haven't done much to expedite the process,” Gutierrez said. “We're over two months into it, and we're still debating who we want to consider to advise the working group. It hasn't even started doing anything substantial.”
How We Got Here
Gutierrez’s first day as editor-in-chief of the Mercury was May 1, the same day that a pro-Palestine encampment was set up on UTD’s Chess Plaza. Student, faculty and community protesters dubbed the site the “Gaza Liberation Plaza” and were set up for around 12 hours before police officers arrested 21 protesters and dismantled the camp.
Following the release of the Mercury’s May 20 issue that included coverage of the encampments, newspaper adviser Jonathan Stewart was removed from the role by administrators, and the paper’s pay structure was rearranged in a way that would penalize the student journalists, Gutierrez said. Administrators also demanded prior review — the right to review and make changes to editorial content before it is published — which is not a standard practice across independent media.
In September, Gutierrez was removed from his position by the Student Media Operating Board; the letter alleges that multiple members of the board, including several student media members, were not present at the meeting and were denied the ability to attend.
Although the bylaws state that Gutierrez’s appeal should have been heard by the board, the appeal was sent to Senior Director of Marketing and Student Media Jenni Huffenberger and was denied without board review, the letter claims. In response to Gutierrez’s removal the Mercury’s staff went on strike, and the entire leadership team was fired by administrators. The students have since set up a new nonprofit newspaper titled the Retrograde.
“This is just another tally mark against [UT Dallas] when it comes to trying to have a good public reputation,” Gutierrez said. “And I think that's kind of what the general panic is about. That now it's not just students, but legal groups who are criticizing the university publicly.”
Past First Amendment Violations at UT Dallas
In December 2023, FIRE responded to the controversial removal of UT Dallas’ campus “spirit rocks,” large boulders that had been located on the school’s grounds since 2008 and were regularly decorated with messages by students. Following the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023, the rocks were decorated with competing pro-Palestine and pro-Israel paintings. Eventually, the expression “Zionism = Nazism” led to the university removing the rocks.
FIRE warned that the rocks’ removal “harm[ed] the culture of free speech on campus” and encouraged discrimination based on viewpoints. The university did not respond to the letter, the organization said.
Gaston-Falk said UT Dallas is not the only campus where tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war have resulted in students' First Amendment rights being violated.
“We've not before seen such an explosion of divisiveness in our communities and, unfortunately, as a result of that, on our campuses we're seeing that reflected as well,” Gaston-Falk said.
In August 2023, FIRE urged the university to remove disciplinary sanctions imposed against a student who was outraged after receiving a parking ticket and yelled at nearby parking officers to “fuck off and get a real job.” The organization maintained that the student’s language, while inflammatory, was constitutionally protected and could not be cause for punishment.
The university dropped its sanction of the student a week after receiving FIRE’s letter.
“Just like a car, campus free speech norms and policies require consistent upkeep to function correctly,” FIRE said in a statement. “Fortunately, UT Dallas administrators have access to an excellent manual: the First Amendment.”
