A Message from President Damphousse

I am writing to address the incident that occurred on our San Marcos Campus on Wednesday. Shortly after noon, two men who were not TXST students, faculty, or staff came onto our campus, carrying signs that expressed homophobic and misogynistic messages. I will not glorify the men or amplify their disgusting messages by sharing them here. Suffice it to say, any reasonable person would be disturbed by their words. I know I was.  

Similar events have occurred on campuses across Texas this week. Over the course of my 30 years in higher education, I have observed these kinds of incidents on every campus where I have served. I know how unsettling these experiences have been for me, so I am sure that it was disturbing for our students, their friends and family, our employees, and our alumni who were in the Quad at the time, or who saw the pictures and videos after the fact.  

You might wonder why we would allow these individuals to come onto campus in the first place. As a public university, TXST is required by law to make public outdoor campus spaces open to what are known as “expressive activities,” even by external groups with whom none of us agree. These groups are not required to seek permission or give prior notice, so we do not always know when they plan to come to our campuses. When we learn these events are happening, our procedures include deploying a trained expressive activity team composed of professionals, including University Police Department (UPD) officers. The team monitors these events in-person and helps keep everyone safe. We cannot restrict lawful access to our campus, nor may we limit what people say verbally or in writing so long as that speech falls within the legal bounds of the freedom of speech and assembly that is guaranteed by the First Amendment. You can find out more about how we handle these situations by visiting our Freedom of Expression webpage.  

We continue to gather information about Wednesday’s incident, but here is what I know so far. When our expressive activity team learned about the demonstration, they immediately went to The Stallions area, where they were joined by UPD officers. They monitored the men, whose disturbing comments eventually drew a crowd of students and employees.

About an hour after the incident began, the demonstrators left campus. No arrests were made, but we are exploring potential legal responses as we learn more.

I know these men caused a wide range of emotions among the members of our Bobcat family, including fear, anxiety, and anger. This was particularly upsetting to me because nothing is more important than the health and safety of our faculty, staff, and students. These men made our campus community feel unsafe, and that disturbs me deeply.  

I am very sad that this type of behavior came to our campus because it runs so contrary to the values that we hold at TXST — in particular, that we respect and value others and that we believe that all Bobcats belong here. Messages like the ones expressed by the demonstrators, sow confusion, anger, distrust, bitterness, fear, and anxiety (none of which belong on our campuses). While TXST is legally committed to protecting free speech on our campuses, we understand that words can negatively impact members of our community. I condemn the hateful words these two men wrote and spoke while they were on our campus. That kind of hate is not welcome here.

Here are some things we are doing now to continue keeping our university community safe. First, it is important to note that we have developed procedures to assist in keeping demonstrators and observers safe during expressive activity over the years based on experience and best practices. After every situation like this, we always assess how the events evolved so that we can learn more about how to improve our response to future incidents. Each event is a teachable moment.  

Second, we all share in the responsibility of keeping each other safe. As observers of expressive activity, we must also understand what we can do to keep ourselves and our community safe; this includes monitoring our own behavior to make sure that we are not violating laws or university policy. Throwing things at or assaulting demonstrators can result in you getting in trouble and may incite others to do the same, creating unsafe conditions for all – I don’t want that. I was encouraged to see members of our community bring out and hold signs with positive messages of respect.

Third, when you see something, say something. Please let us know when you see something that appears to be a safety issue. If you ever feel unsafe or threatened, please reach out immediately to the UPD or to someone in authority. We have many avenues to report things so that we can take action to address them which are listed on our Report It website.  

Friends, I know that this incident was particularly disturbing because it occurred the day after a presidential election that was charged with emotion. Even though the timing may not have been intentional, it may have seemed like these events were related. It is my hope that we will strive to focus on the things that unite us, treat each other with respect, and support each other as we learn, serve, inspire, and discover.

I know yesterday was a lot for some of us. I am so sorry that this came to our home. It’s okay to not be okay today. I know that I am not okay. Please remember that you don’t have to face this challenge alone. TXST has mental health resources that can give you someone to talk to. You can access these resources on our Counseling Center webpage. 

You are not alone, and you belong here as part of the Bobcat family.

Kelly Damphousse
President