Walked through the free speech zone at UT Austin last month and it was basically empty

I was visiting Austin for a job interview and decided to check out the campus. There's this designated free speech area near the West Mall with signs and everything, but when I walked through on a Tuesday afternoon, nobody was there. No speakers, no protesters, not even a flyer table. It got me thinking about whether these zones actually encourage speech or just box it in so nobody has to deal with it. Has anyone else seen one of these zones in action or are they all ghost towns?

2 comments

2 Comments

abby_henderson21d ago

That's actually not a free speech zone, the campus is open for speech almost everywhere.

finley_bennett2821d ago

Heard from a friend who tried setting up a table in that spot and got told to move immediately by campus security. They checked the policy later and found out those specific areas near the admin buildings don't count for free speech. So it's not really wide open if they're picking and choosing like that.