Editor's note: This is my second work. Rewire News Group's Campus Dispatch series explores how confusing and ever-changing policies on reproductive, voting, and LGBTQ+ rights are affecting Generation Z. On the last Monday of each month, we will publish stories by young writers tackling the issues that most impact their generation. Read the first article here.
Our government must protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. But sometimes the opposite is true.
Texas is about tacos, cowboys, and most importantly, freedom. But the state has limited its founding principles in harmony with many of its neighbors. Texas is not truly free.
And for college students, this can be stifling.
Since my first semester at the University of Texas at Austin, I have worked as a graphic and layout designer. daily texas, one of the nation's leading college newspapers and a source of pride for the university. With more than 300 fellow students creating stories and content for more than 50,000 colleagues, our newsroom's diversity and inclusion board plays a critical role. We are tasked with ensuring that all published work is truly accurate and representative of the school's larger population.
But at the beginning of the year Texas The D&I desk needed to be renamed and its functionality reworked. Now, as a sophomore, I walk by the “Advocacy and Belonging” desk when I enter the newsroom. These changes follow Senate Bill 17, which Gov. Greg Abbott signed in May and bans diversity, equity and inclusion policies that impact mandatory teaching, hiring practices and other programs at Texas public colleges and universities. It came into effect from January 1st.
Student newspapers are not the only campus groups affected by SB 17. UT's student government also had to reorganize its diversity and inclusion department, and the Queer and Transgender Student Coalition organization was disbanded. While these changes may seem like “rebranding” tactics for groups, they have a more focused and profound impact on minorities who need help the most.
For example, consider undocumented students. Texas has the second-highest number of undocumented students in the country, and UT-supported Monarch scholarships and programs have helped them find professional opportunities and academic help. But as a result of SB 17, Monarch closed on January 1, eliminating a critical resource that helped underrepresented students succeed.
The combination of SB 17 and its twist has never been clearer. Roe vs. Wade It limits my freedom as a woman, a person of color, and the daughter of immigrants.
Laws meant to “protect” the mental and physical challenges students face are being eliminated. This includes dismantling or forcing renaming of institutions that have historically been used as places for students to confide in each other, such as the Center for Gender & Sexuality being renamed the Women's Community Center or the closing of UT's Center for Multicultural Engagement. It's possible. SB 17 disrupts or disrupts the existence of these organizations and the sanctity of students involved in these organizations. Student members lose hope, resources, and community.
College is a place where people make lifelong friends. But now the space is open for hatred. Recently, UT students have expressed feelings of isolation and unsupport in a “more overt” way since SB 17 went into effect. Texas It has been reported.
College is also a place to build your career. This is especially true in Texas, where more and more businesses are moving to big cities. If diversity and inclusion recognition were removed from the academic environment, what impact could this have on our state’s businesses? Will we also ignore DEI practices? The challenges we face on campus should not carry over to the office, as they have a huge impact on our mental health, career trajectories, and productivity.
Reproductive risk is another legal issue that may deter students from choosing to study in Texas in the first place. later roe Since the June 2022 dismissal, prospective students have expressed concerns about their bodily autonomy, and rightly so. The potential for lack of access to appropriate abortion care, restrictions on gender-affirming care, and the social impact of Texas laws on minority groups are driving top students away from public universities.
As someone who grew up in California, I understand that it can be difficult to understand Texas' extreme political and social stances. However, as a Texas student myself, I wonder what my experience is with the lack of out-of-state students at my university. could do I have done it. Different upbringings and political views across the country encourage greater socialization and expression in all educational institutions, and Texas is no exception.
The list of freedoms Texas protects seems vague compared to the freedoms Texans lose based on race, gender, and immigration status.
College campuses should be places of academic, professional, and personal freedom. But how can college students navigate when legislative barricades are erected within their walls? How do college students get reproductive health care? Or would you like to report discrimination to the D&I Committee? What is Texas trying to accomplish, and how do these laws accomplish it?
And most importantly, how does curtailing our freedoms fit with the foundations on which this state was built?