UNT professors speak out about policy preventing in-class voter registration presentations

DENTON, Texas - University of North Texas professors are speaking out about not being able to have voter registration presentations in class.

The university told its instructors the classroom is not the place for groups to share information about the registration process.

UNT tells FOX 4 it is not a new policy.

"According to Texas Government Code (Texas Govt. Code § 556.004(c), there are specific provisions of Texas law that prohibit using university programs, classes, etc. for political purposes. In accordance with state law, UNT ensures that all voting and voter registration resources are nonpartisan. Class time is the period of time a class is held. Voter registration tabling is facilitated across campus, outside of instructional time," read a statement from the university.

Bringing in nonprofit groups to speak about voter registration is not uncommon, according to professors at the school.

"I have had voter registration groups come to my class for many years. This is the first time the administration has ever said they are prohibited. None of these groups has ever been partisan or told people who to vote for. Neither have I," Tracy Everbach, a professor of journalism at UNT, told FOX 4.

Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha has taught in the Political Science Department at UNT since 2005.

He says this is the first he's heard of the restriction.

"Our political science classes explicitly teach about voter registration, and having this hands-on activity in class, I would think, is a great teaching tool and very much in line with our teaching mission," wrote Eshbaugh-Soha.

SMU political scientist Matthew Wilson says there is a perception that efforts to register college students would benefit Democrats.

"Everything in politics today is charged with more sensitivity than in the past. We are a more polarized society. We are having closer elections in Texas. You put those together and people are just more on edge than they were 10 to 30 years ago," said Wilson.

SMU is a private university.

Wilson says he allows nonpartisan groups to talk about the voter registration process.

"Having a group that specializes in that coming to class can be a natural addition to the curriculum," Wilson said.

The news from UNT comes weeks after the University of Texas system approved a policy prohibiting its schools from making political or social statements.

"On one hand they have a lot of faculty and student activists who lean to the left and want them to lean into left-wing causes, so they get that pressure. On the other hand, they have state-controlled government run by Republicans that will slap them down," said Wilson.

The decision by the university does not prohibit voter registration drives on campus.