UT Changes Their Minds About Signs

Earlier this week there was some to-do made over the fact that cousins/UT roommates Blake and Connor Kincaid had a political sign (supporting Obama) in their Brackenridge Hall dorm window. Such a display of any sign in a dorm window is against UT rules, and the students were told in an administrative hearing this week that if the sign wasn't removed they would not be allowed to register for classes in the spring. During this hearing Connor Kincaid defended their free speech rights, also asserting that in a neighboring dorm a McCain sign had been displayed in a window. Still, University Democrats and College Republicans banded together to contest the rule.

Yesterday afternoon UT President Bill Powers announced that a temporary rule would allow such signs in dorm windows, and that a committee of students and university officials will look into whether the UT housing division could change the no-signs-in-dorm-windows rule permanently. Powers told The Daily Texan that the media attention isn't what led him to think the policy might need changing, but Jeff Graves, UT VP for Legal Affairs, said that the response from alumni and other members of the community did do something to affect the school's decision.

Andy Brown, Travis County Democratic Party chair, said about this event: “Free speech is a pillar of our political system. The right and ability for every person to voice their concerns and views continues to make this Democracy strong. It is a powerful statement that students organized around their right to free speech and the University of Texas listened."