4 OctOber 1 - 7, 2026 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | Unfair Park | Contents Freedom of the (student) press University journalist sues UTD for First Amendment violations BY HANNAH EVERETT O n Oct. 15, 2024, former edi- tor-in-chief of The Mercury, Grego- rio Olivares Gutierrez, received an email from the University of Texas at Dallas administration saying he was under investi- gation for discrimination. This was the day he knew he would have to pursue legal ac- tion against the college. Olivares Gutierrez, a current UTD stu- dent, filed a lawsuit against the school’s ad- ministration last week for free speech and press freedom violations. The investigation, which the school in- formed him of a month after firing him, was for “discriminatory harassment,” filed by a student who had submitted a letter to the editor for publication. The lawsuit claims the university admin- istration jumped at the opportunity to si- lence Olivares Gutierrez, as they had long clashed with the editor-in-chief over the publication’s critical reporting on the ad- ministration. “When it comes to doing student journal- ism, there’s a lot of really important things that we cover, and unfortunately it doesn’t al- ways paint our school in the best light when we have to cover scandals with professors or different sorts of things that are going on at that high end level of the university. “But it is important that we cover it truthfully nonetheless. In my time doing so, I angered a few university administrators who now see fit to weaponize parts of uni- versity policy to strip students of their free speech,” Olivares Gutierrez said. The suit, filed recently in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, claims UTD violated Olivares Gutierrez’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. Dallas attorney Griffin S. Rubin, a partner at Sbaiti & Company PLLC and a member of the FIRE Legal Network, represents the stu- dent and took the case pro bono, Olivares Gutierrez said. “My problem has always been with the university acting as if it knows better than the law, as if students aren’t real people who have real rights,” Olivares Gutierrez said. What happened In July 2024, Olivares Gutierrez ac- cepted the letter to the editor from the pres- ident of UTD’s Hillel chapter to be published in The Mercury. The letter went through the publication’s editing process and Olivares Gutierrez requested the writer substantiate claims with appropriate sourc- ing. The writer declined to do so through multiple rounds of back-and-forth feedback, and the story was published with a dis- claimer stating the piece did not meet The Mercury’s journalistic standards and should be read as the author’s opinion. Olivares Gutierrez said it was still impor- tant to him to publish the letter, titled “Cam- pus antisemitism,” even with unsubstantiated claims. He said the disclaimer was the publi- cation doing its due diligence to provide read- ers with factual information. “If I didn’t want to see that student’s voice being heard, I would not have pub- lished the piece,” He said. “In my opinion, it’s always been better to show more student voices than fewer.” After publication on Aug. 19, 2024, the author filed a complaint with the Office of Institutional Compliance saying they felt discriminated against because of their Jew- ish faith. The university administration fired Olivares Gutierrez on Sept. 13, which trig- gered a staff strike and then the removal of student employees on strike. In the month between Olivares Gutier- rez’s removal and the university informing him of the investigation, he and the former staff of The Mercury formed a nonprofit newspaper called The Retrograde. Olivares Gutierrez met with UTD admin- istration about the investigation in October. In June 2025, UTD concluded he discrimi- nated against the student who wrote the let- ter to the editor. An administrator told him he would face a two-year deferred suspen- sion and an educational sanction grounded in media ethics. After a letter from the Foundation for In- dividual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and public backlash, the university granted Oli- vares Gutierrez a hearing rather than a sus- pension. After the hearing in February 2026, UTD’s findings remained the same, and Oli- vares Gutierrez appealed. “To see the university use this as a cudgel against the freedom of expression and the freedom of the press is really disappointing and something I am committed to pushing back against,” Olivares Gutierrez said. UTD did not respond to requests for comment. What’s next Rubin said the next step is to apply for a temporary restraining order and a prelimi- nary injunction while the lawsuit is re- solved. Olivares Gutierrez is completing his final semester at UTD and said he is work- ing on applying to law school. “Law school has always been the goal. I think there are a lot of injustices in this world and law is an effective way to combat it,” he said. Gutierrez said the legal battle is worth it, even as he nears graduation, because of the im- plications it may have for current and future journalism students at the university. He said the impact of university policy on free speech could cause students to rethink their degree plans and steer clear of college journalism. “The university is very clearly doing something that has a terrible precedent for future student journalists,” He said. “Imag- ine you’re a student journalist at UT Tyler or even here at UTD in future generations and you see UT System uses its own policy to stop students from asking for facts and from making sure the basic journalistic standard any article should go through is being met because the university disagrees with the speech. That’s terrifying.” ▼ HIGHER EDUCATION & DEI A ‘COCKROACH’ MAKES SOME NOISE RIGHT-WING LAWMAKER TOUTS ‘ANOTHER WIN’ AS UNT REMOVES LGBTQ WEBPAGE BY AUSTIN WOOD A fter online attacks from a conserva- tive state lawmaker, the University of North Texas removed a webpage for its LGBTQ archive. He’s calling it a win. In an X post, Ellis County state Rep. Brian Harrison posted screenshots of the archive’s webpage, which he said pointed to “TRANS- GENDER INDOCTRINATION” at UNT. A few days later, Harrison posted a screenshot showing the webpage had been deleted and displayed a 404 error. The state representative also then pointed out that the new error page con- tained an apparent misspelling, as the page read “the page you are looking for doesn’t exit.” UNT appears to have corrected the spelling to say “exists.” UNT officials did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Man on a mission The news comes at a time when right- wing lawmakers and activists continue tak- ing aim at what they view as “indoctrination” in educational spheres. Multiple Fort Worth ISD educators have been placed under investigation after social media accounts posted screenshots of their earlier posts expressing support for liberal causes, while a Forney ISD principal re- signed in the spring after social media back- lash followed a Hijabi event on campus. Universities have also come under scru- tiny, with Harrison’s social media rhetoric playing a role in several high-profile cases. In 2025, Texas State University removed an LGBTQ+ Communication Studies course from its catalog after Harrison criticized it online for “literally indoctrinating” students as a video circulated of students in the class mocking Charlie Kirk’s death. Most notably, Harrison used his social media presence in 2024 to pressure Texas A&M to remove a gender studies minor. The university even- tually removed the minor, and one professor was fired in 2025 after Harrison renewed social media attacks over a video that circu- lated online showing a student pushing back on course content. The dispute ultimately led to the ouster of Mark Wash, then-presi- dent of Texas A&M. While university officials have been re- luctant to say Harrison’s attacks have af- fected their decisions, he’s not as slow to take credit. In a 2025 Texas Tribune article titled “Inside Brian Harrison’s Social Media War in Higher Education,” he told the Tri- bune that actions taken by Texas State and Texas A&M were “100% a result of my ac- tions,” adding that “I’m not gonna | UNFAIR PARK | Hannah Everett Gregorio Olivares Gutierrez on the UTD campus in 2026. >> p6