Campus Free Speech

Texas Wants Free Speech on Campus—With Exceptions

Charlie Kirk’s death put campus censorship back in the spotlight. In Texas, FIRE found plenty of it—much of it was from the right.

Josh Pauzé | 9.24.2026 5:41 PM

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Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez was an editor of The Mercury, a student newspaper at the University of Texas at Dallas, before he was placed on a two-year deferred suspension after his school deemed that his editorial decisions constituted "discriminatory harassment." 

This all started when UT Dallas Hillel president Jade Steinberg sent The Mercury a letter about campus antisemitism and the Israel-Palestine conflict. Gutierrez thought the letter lacked credible sources, so he added a disclaimer to its publication stating that the letter "does not meet the journalistic standards of The Mercury" and should be treated as opinion rather than news. A day after the piece went live, Steinberg complained, leading to Gutierrez's suspension. Gutierrez filed a lawsuit last week, alleging that the school violated his First Amendment rights.

Gutierrez's case is one of many free speech controversies at Texas universities.........

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