I am writing to ask you to vote YES on HB1473 – “Public institutions of higher education; students and campus; restrictions on student speech; limitations,” which will further enshrine the constitutional rights to free speech and freedom of assembly for students, faculty, and staff on college campuses. Students have, both historically and contemporarily, been one of the leading forces for social change using first amendment rights. Protests such as those against the Vietnam War and apartheid, and rallies advocating for civil rights and for divestment, have shaped the national conversation paving the way for positive political and social change. Over the past two years, student protests have been met with a repressive response from university administrators and the state’s Attorney General’s office. During the Spring of 2024, the Virginia public university response to non-violent, anti-genocide demonstrations exposed students to excessive police violence. Over 125 Virginia students, faculty, and staff were arrested across four universities and at least three students had their diplomas withheld in retaliation for participating in pro-Palestine anti-genocide protests. This crackdown on first amendment speech has been justified by university executives under the guise of “time, place, and manner” restrictions. While the provision exists to give universities discretion in protecting free speech and simultaneously preserving the core functions of academic institutions, its ambiguity has allowed it to be weaponized to crack down on disfavorable speech. This bill amends the “time, place, and manner” exemption to be less ambiguous. It would do so by amending § 23.1-401 of the Code of Virginia so universities may only apply “time, place, and manner” restrictions to prevent “a material and substantial disruption… to a safe educational environment”, while also requiring the University to report such justifications to the General Assembly. HB1473 limits the ability of governments and university officials to suppress or punish free speech in public colleges and universities across the Commonwealth. It is vital that we protect the role of all college and university students in seeking out the truth and challenging injustice and systems of oppression through their first amendment rights. I urge you to vote YES on HB1473.

Oppose HB1473. While I respect and support students’ First Amendment right to free speech and peaceful expression, college campuses must first and foremost remain safe and welcoming environments for all students. Universities need the ability to set reasonable time, place, and manner guidelines so students can attend class, learn, and earn their degrees without disruption. The widespread campus unrest of the 2023–24 academic year demonstrated how quickly learning environments can become destabilized. In the aftermath of that year, national survey data showed that 40% of Jewish undergraduate students felt the need to hide their Jewish identity on campus [ BSG-Hillel Survey, May 2024]. In Virginia, we have made meaningful progress since then, and I believe HB1473 risks undermining the balance that has helped campuses move toward greater safety, access, and belonging for all students.

I am writing in full support of HB1473 (Schmidt) which is extremely important to protect free speech during peaceful protests and otherwise. VCU, UVA, and Virginia Tech also used unreasonable means of silencing free speech during protests in 2024. At VCU this included calling in additional police, teargas, and arrests of nonviolent protesters. Bringing the police in with their violent measures is what brought violence to the protests. VCU students were arrested for protesting a genocide. Then in 2025 unreasonable arbitrary restrictions were placed on students. Diplomas were withheld for several weeks for at least 2 students. Rules were capricious and the restrictions and rules kept changing and were being driven by those who would suppress speech. The Del. Herring's House Select Committee on Maintaining Campus Safety and First Amendment Expression was conducted in a very unfair manner giving guaranteed to university administration and police and forcing students protesters to speak first come, first served during public comment. This fall William & Mary targeted students peacefully protesting the genocide with invasive investigations and sanctioned them for protesting a genocide. I know two of these students and they have been given unnecessary sanctions for speaking out in. peaceful protest. Del. Schmidt's bill will give some guardrails for our first amendment rights on college campuses. This is at a time where every day the federal government puts citizens and immigrants alike in the crosshairs of a violent armed ICE and silence people who disagree. In our state where the words "Sic semper tyrannis" are on our flag, we must honor the constitutional rights of our citizens and encourage free expression at our institutes of higher learning. Please support HB1437.

Please vote YES on HB1473 and protect students' First Amendment right to peacefully protest.

My name is Walt Heinecke, I am associate professor of education and have been teaching at a Virginia public for 30 years in research, statistics and evaluation. I have served on the faculty senate. We at the American Association of University Professors at UVA urge you to support HB 780, HB 1069 and HB1473 on Monday. HB 780 which serves as a hub for the other bills is the most exemplary bill I have seen in higher education in Virginia. It fixes the problem we encountered at UVA and other publics by addressing university control over legal counsel, it allows for staggering terms for BOV members prohibiting the one party domination of BOVs., It clarifies appointment processes that maintain the oversight of the GA, It has much needed language on the mandatory appointment of faculty, staff and student voting members on BOVs a much needed improvement for authentic shared Governance. We suggest you roll Del. Laufer's bill into this bill as it has a more democratic process of faculty, staff & student member selection to maintain the independence of constituent voice. Allowing the BOVs to pick from multiple names is a nominations not an election. The removal of professors section in HB 780 comports with AAUP national best practices essential for shared governance and exemplary not found in any other proposed bill. Unlike any other bill it includes a requirement for BOVs to define and implement shared governance that will improve the quality of decision making at our universities, an AAUP national standard. The bill, like HB 1473, has language to protect free speech and first amendment rights of faculty, staff and students. that have proven to be essential in the current era. You might think about rolling Del. Schmidt's 1473 bill into this bill strengthening this aspect of HB 780. These three bills 780, 1069, 1473 considered as a whole are exactly what is needed to bring balance and improve our institutions of higher education. If you want to strengthen and improve our institutions, I urge you to support all three bills. I speak from being on the front lines of the crisis experienced at UVA last year and teaching for 30 years. The other bills concerning BOV reform are not as comprehensive as 780 and associated bills. You have an opportunity here to really make dramatic improvements in our system of higher education. Please support HB 780, HB 1069 and HB 1473 on Monday and advance them. The bills will improve shared governance without which there can be no academic freedom and we need academic freedom now more than ever as our universities are under siege. Thank you.

I urge the passing of HB1473. As a professor, I am appalled by the treatment of students and faculty by administrators for peacefully protesting against a Genocide. We must protect the free speech rights of students, and this bill would prevent unnecessary crackdowns on students. I strongly support this Bill. Alex Hilert, Ph.D., LPC

Students have every right to protest and display their views. The students targeted in April 2024 at the VCU Encampment, and The 2025 gathering a year later on the same lawn faced so much because of the suppression of VCU. The reason they have been supressed is because they are Pro Palestinian, Palestinian themselves or Anti-Zionist Jewish allies. Several students have families in Gaza. They wanted their university (VCU) to stop funding israeli bombs/weapons and in general the israeli government who is inflicting genocide, despite a ceasefire in October 2025. STILL students get supressed. Even though all 3 individuals at VCU got their degrees, the supression they faced was blantantly discriminitory based on one of and/or all of these factors: Race, Religion or political affiliation. Please support these students standing up in support for free speech.

Our 1st Amendment rights have been under attack in the current political climate, so it is important to reinforce our Constitutional rights with bills like HB1473. We cannot allow overreach by universities to infringe on the 1st Amendment rights of students and faculty for the sake of political expedience. Please vote yes on this bill!

Please vote no in HB 1473. Colleges and universities must have the authority to set reasonable rules for protesters that do not violate first amendment rights. This bill would strip them from doing that and put students, faculty, and community member members at risk. Thank you.

I am an attorney who practiced government law for nearly forty years. HB1473 would not eliminate or unduly curtail the necessary authority of colleges and universities to regulate the time, place and manner of speech by students and others on campus. It would, however, place guardrails around such regulation to protect the constitution rights of students and the open exchange of ideas that our learning institutions should foster. In the last several years we have seen harsh penalties and violence inflicted on peaceful protesters, particularly those calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and equal rights for Palestinians. Some of the participants in these demonstrations were of Palestinian decent, many were Jewish and most were neither. However, the demonstrators were falsely accused by many of being antisemitic, and on November 16, 2023, the Attorney General sent a ridiculous letter to Presidents and Board members at state colleges and universities claiming that protesters were calling for a second Holocaust. Clarifying the protections for freedom of speech on campuses in state law, as would HB1473, is essential to protect our students and the learning experience provided by the open exchange of thoughts and opinions, especially in times of emotional turbulence. Looking back at campus activism over the last several decades, we might observe that student activists were pretty much on the right side of history. They were right about the civil rights movement, they were right to call for an end to the Vietnam war and they were right to call for increased focus on environmental protection. Assure that students have the right to speak and be heard. Please support HB1473.