Texas Universities Face Scrutiny Over Student Speech

Texas lawmakers have started looking into how public universities handle student speech. This comes after some students reacted strongly to the death of conservative speaker Charlie Kirk. The first meeting happened on a Thursday morning. The committee was created because some students seemed to make fun of or celebrate Kirk's death. Lawmakers want to talk about how to encourage respectful discussions and protect free speech on campuses. They also want to check if universities are following a new law that gives the state more control over how schools operate. There have been some serious incidents since Kirk's death. One student was kicked out of Texas State University after a video showed them pretending to reenact the killing. The governor even asked for this student to be expelled right away. Another student is no longer at Texas Tech after being arrested for assault. The state's attorney general is also looking into the University of North Texas for not punishing students who celebrated the death. Experts say most of what the students did is probably protected by the First Amendment. But the state is still trying to figure out how to balance free speech with keeping campuses safe. There have been other laws passed to control protests, but some parts of these laws have been blocked by courts. At the meeting, more than a dozen people will share their thoughts. This includes university lawyers, administrators, and students from different schools in Texas.