UNT is fine with voter registration on campus, but new directive says keep it outside of class

KERA | By Lucinda Breeding-Gonzales | Denton Record-Chronicle

Published September 5, 2024 at 9:58 AM CDT

The University of Texas at Denton is a public university in Denton.
The University of Texas at Denton is a public university in Denton.

University of North Texas administrators told deans recently that faculty can no longer use class time for voter registration. One of those deans also told faculty that they would have to rebuff requests from groups seeking to use classes to register voters.

One UNT dean cautioned faculty to take care when broaching voter registration in the run-up to the Nov. 5 election, one of the most contentious elections in the country’s recent history.

“As you are aware, this is a big election year,” College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences Executive Dean Albert Bimper said in an email obtained by the North Texas Daily. “It is likely that voter registration groups may soon reach out to you and your faculty, if not already, to request an invitation during class periods to promote voter registration. … Our central administration has asked that we refrain from extending invitations to such registration groups into classrooms during instructional time.”

The campus newspaper reported that university Provost Michael McPherson sent an email to college deans about the change in August.

In a statement to the North Texas Daily, UNT Media Relations Director Devynn Case said the emails reminded deans and faculty that the university has to take care in collecting new and renewed registrations.

“The university is committed to following legal guidelines, which prohibit the use of state resources and programs for political purposes,” Case told the Daily.

“UNT supports faculty in their efforts to encourage students to exercise their civic duty while also adhering to these legal requirements. Because presentations by visiting groups and organizations cannot be guaranteed to remain nonpartisan, UNT encourages instructors to share university-wide resources with students when promoting voting and voter registration.”

The Denton Record-Chronicle reached out to the county Republican and Democratic parties on Wednesday to find out if either party has held voter registration drives on UNT’s Denton or Frisco campuses. The parties hadn’t replied yet.

The Record-Chronicle also contacted UNT to find out if the guidelines were established before or after the controversial Senate Bill 17, which banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices, initiatives, department or trainings in Texas public universities and colleges. Since the 88th Legislature, Texas universities have puzzled through implementation.

Angela Brewer, an adjunct professor in communications studies at UNT, said she once invited a group that registers voters to classes in the past.

“I hosted MOVE Texas voter registrars in my communication class in 2018,” said Brewer, who has also previously run for local office.

“One of the learning objectives for COMM 1010 is social responsibility, and we teach a unit on rhetoric and public advocacy. I thought helping students get registered and introducing them to an advocate who could answer their questions about registration and voting served those objectives.”

Brewer said she hasn’t had the nonprofit back in her class since then.

“I did hand out voter registration cards in 2022 for students who needed them,” Brewer said. “I did not realize that UNT has asked us not to use class time for voter registration this fall. Makes me sad.”

MOVE Texas has visited other UNT classrooms in the past, according to the Daily.

This article was originally published by KERA News.

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