Governor Abbott's order coincides with Israel's response after it was attacked on October 7th by the terrorist group Hamas out of the Gaza Strip.
The governor writes that after that attack, "Texas took immediate action to protect Jewish schools, synagogues, and other key locations. Many Texas colleges and universities also acted quickly to condemn Anti Semitism, but some radical organizations on our campuses engaged in acts that have no place in Texas. Now, we must work to ensure that our college campuses are safe spaces for members of the Jewish community."
Under Abbott's order, colleges and universities in the Lone Star State will review free speech guidelines in order to establish punishment for anti-Semitic rhetoric including expulsion from campus.
It also ensures that these policies are being enforced on campuses and that groups such as the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine are disciplined for violating these policies.
Joel Schwitzer, Regional Director with the American Jewish Committee in Dallas says free speech is critical. However, he says "Students can be tabling for the High Holidays and handing out apples and honey and information on where to go to services. And people will walk by the table and say 'Oh, there are the genocide supporters.'"
The American Jewish Committee conducts an annual state of Antisemitism in America survey and always asks questions specific to campus life. They found that for current students or had been students in the past two years, 25% avoided wearing, carrying, or displaying things that could identify them as Jews out of fear of anti-Semitism.
One in five felt they could not take part in a campus group or event because of a perceived connection to Israel and 24% reported feeling uncomfortable or unsafe at a campus event, at least once, because of their Jewish identity.
Schwitzer says it is a time in which Jewish students on campus are having a harder and harder time feeling they can be Jewish on campus. "We applaud the governor's recognition of this trend of rising anti-Semitism on campus and his commitment to try to do something about it."
Read Governor Abbott's executive order here.
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