San Antonio College: Administration Forces Postponement, Renaming of Teach-In on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

On Oct. 24, 2023, a group of more than 100 San Antonio College students attended a “Teach-In for Palestine” on-campus event organized by SAC faculty, but before the event began, an administrator told the assembled students the event could not proceed, allegedly because of student confusion and discomfort about the word “Palestine” in the title. The event organizers postponed and renamed the event, which then occurred Oct. 30, but subsequent reporting suggested college administrators treated the event more harshly by effectively forcing it to be postponed and renamed because of the viewpoints expressed. After students and faculty raised concerns about the situation, the college district also hired an external firm to investigate the situation. FIRE wrote San Antonio College on Jan. 23, 2024, reminding the college of its First Amendment obligations to treat all expressive events on a viewpoint-neutral basis. The college responded on February 6 affirming that it would approach future expressive events on campus on a viewpoint-neutral basis.