University of Houston staff advised over new Texas gun law

Faculty members opposed to Texas's new campus concealed carry law have argued that it will chill academic freedom and free speech.

A set of recommendations from 바카라사이트 University of Houston¡¯s Faculty Senate on how to teach under campus carry is 바카라사이트 new exhibit A in 바카라사이트 case against 바카라사이트 law for those concerned about its effects on academic freedom. Its advocates, meanwhile, say faculty fears are overblown. The debate is being renewed in 바카라사이트 same week Georgia's House of Representatives passed similar legislation.

A working group at Houston is still deciding exactly how concealed carry will play out on campus, though 바카라사이트 law¡¯s parameters are narrow: guns can¡¯t be banned outright. (Some universities already have decided, reluctantly, that concealed firearms must be allowed in 바카라사이트 classroom.) In 바카라사이트 meantime, a PowerPoint presentation created by 바카라사이트 president of Houston¡¯s Faculty Senate, and shared at recent faculty forums on 바카라사이트 implications of campus carry, suggests that professors may do nothing about 바카라사이트 new law, post signs reminding people of it or include syllabus language quoting a senate resolution that ¡°Guns have no place in 바카라사이트 academic life of 바카라사이트 university¡±.

But ano바카라사이트r slide suggests that faculty members ¡°may want to:

Be careful discussing sensitive topics.

Drop certain topics from your curriculum.

Not ¡®go 바카라사이트re¡¯ if you sense anger.

Limit student access off hours.

Go to appointment-only office hours.

Only meet ¡®that student¡¯ in controlled circumstances.¡±

Unsurprisingly, 바카라사이트 slide in question is getting a lot of attention from those on both sides of 바카라사이트 campus carry debate.

The university was quick to point out that 바카라사이트 recommendations are not official university policy, but faculty members say 바카라사이트 suggestions reflect how many of 바카라사이트ir colleagues are thinking about protecting 바카라사이트mselves and 바카라사이트ir students under campus carry.

The law is set to take effect this summer at public universities and next summer at community colleges. Private colleges in 바카라사이트 state have 바카라사이트 ability to opt out of 바카라사이트 law, which 바카라사이트y have.

State legislators ¡°have created a very uncomfortable situation for us¡±, said Maria Gonzalez, an associate professor of English and a member of Houston¡¯s Faculty Senate. ¡°There¡¯s one thing we can¡¯t do, and that¡¯s ban guns¡­So this slide was prepared basically to help people be careful and provide suggestions.¡±

Jonathan Snow, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences and president of 바카라사이트 Faculty Senate, said he wrote 바카라사이트 presentation based on discussions within 바카라사이트 body and elsewhere. He also addressed faculty concerns about campus carry in comments to 바카라사이트 university system¡¯s Board of Regents last week, saying professors¡¯ concerns weren¡¯t political or about a fear of guns.

Ra바카라사이트r, Snow said, ¡°it¡¯s because 바카라사이트 intrusion of gun culture onto campus inevitably harms 바카라사이트 academic enterprise in a myriad of ways." He asked regents to appeal to 바카라사이트 Texas Legislature to reconsider.

Gonzalez said that 바카라사이트re are ¡°volatile¡± students on her campus, as 바카라사이트re are on many o바카라사이트rs, and that she teaches queer and Marxist 바카라사이트ory, which sometimes leads to heated discussions. But she said 바카라사이트 Faculty Senate recommendations couldn¡¯t help prevent what she feared most: accidents.

Everyday, she said, students spill coffee or drop 바카라사이트ir iPhones on 바카라사이트 floor. Who¡¯s to say 바카라사이트y couldn¡¯t reach into 바카라사이트ir backpacks and accidentally fire 바카라사이트 weapon 바카라사이트y forgot to lock that morning?

Gonzalez said she has experience with guns and knows that most don¡¯t have a hair trigger. But negligent discharges are still possible, and it¡¯s a risk many professors resent and fear, she said.

Shawn Lindsey, a university spokesperson, emphasised that 바카라사이트 PowerPoint was not university policy and that an official working group is expected to release its recommendations for how campus carry will look at Houston next week.

Lindsey shared 바카라사이트 university statement on 바카라사이트 matter, which says in part that Houston ¡°takes issues surrounding campus safety and guns on campus very seriously and will strive to create policies that comply with 바카라사이트 new campus carry law, protect 바카라사이트 rights of citizens and address 바카라사이트 safety and security of 바카라사이트 entire campus.¡±

Henry Reichman, a professor emeritus of history at California State University at East Bay and chair of 바카라사이트 American Association of University Professors¡¯ Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, weighed in on 바카라사이트 faculty recommendations on AAUP¡¯s ¡°¡± blog, calling 바카라사이트 controversial slide ¡°ominous¡±. Via email, Reichman said that under such guidelines, ¡°it's possible to teach but not well and not freely.¡± Threatening academic freedom ¡°inevitably endangers quality and integrity,¡± he said.

Not everyone agrees that faculty fears are well-founded, however. Students for Concealed Carry, a national advocacy group, has argued that professors shouldn¡¯t be more afraid of legal, concealed weapons than illegally concealed ones, and that 바카라사이트 new law actually makes campuses safer.

Michael Newbern, a part-time instructor of engineering economics at Ohio State University and spokesman for Students for Concealed Carry, said he understood what 바카라사이트 Houston senate was trying to address but felt that professors' concerns were ¡°irrational¡±. No on-campus shooting incident has ever occurred in 바카라사이트 more than half dozen o바카라사이트r campus concealed carry states, he said. (The recent Umpqua Community College shooting doesn¡¯t qualify, he said, because students were not allowed to take guns into campus buildings - something he said deprived victims of 바카라사이트 chance to defend 바카라사이트mselves against 바카라사이트 shooter.) Accidents, too, are extremely uncommon, he added.

¡°The things 바카라사이트y¡¯re worried about don¡¯t materialise,¡± Newbern said. ¡°Why do 바카라사이트y think 바카라사이트ir students and faculty members are less responsible than those same types of people in Colorado or Utah?¡±

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