Speech on the college quad is once again on the front lines of America's culture and political wars.

Why it matters: With increasing velocity, politics is reaching into university campuses to shape the makeup of students and teachers, curricula, and the words that can be uttered inside and outside the classroom.

The latest: On Friday, following the murder of Republican activist Charlie Kirk on a Utah college campus, Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, both Republicans, announced the formation of special committees on civil discourse and freedom of speech in higher education.

• "The political assassination of Charlie Kirk ... is appalling and reveals a deeper, systemic problem worth examining," Burrows said in a statement.

The announcement capped a week in which, following pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott, a Texas A&M instructor was fired after a video recorded in a children's literature class showed a clash over gender-identity content.

• A Texas State University student yesterday was expelled after mocking Kirk's death at a memorial event.

The intrigue: Tenure, long a cornerstone in academic freedom, no longer appears to insulate professors from political pressure.

• Texas State University fired a tenured professor after a video circulating on X showed him calling hypothetically for the overthrow of the U.S. government. (The professor, whom the university president accused of "inciting violence," is now threatening to sue the university if he isn't rehired.)
• A 2023 state law allows an institution's president to fire a professor for several reasons, including "good cause as defined in the institution's policies."

The other side: "This firing ignores principles of due process and free speech that are fundamental to higher education," officials with the UT chapter of the American Association of University Professors posted on X last week following the Texas State dismissal.

The big picture: President Trump and MAGA spent years lampooning censorship, discrimination against conservatives and progressive "cancel culture."

• Now in power, they're embracing free speech limits as they punish ideological opponents.

Debate hits public schools

Student rents grew a little faster, on average, than market-rate rents in Austin over the past five years, according to Moody's data shared with Axios.

Why it matters: Expensive student housing adds to the already-high cost of college.

• A pre-pandemic analysis performed for the city of Austin found that about 10% of rental units in Austin were occupied by students.

By the numbers: Average student rents — or off-campus apartments where more than half of tenants are college students — grew by 23.1% from 2020 to 2025 in greater Austin, while average market-rate rents grew 21.8%.

• The analysis included student rent growth for UT and Texas State students.

The big picture: Nationally, rent growth for market-rate apartments has been outpacing that of student housing, says Ricardo Rosas, Moody's associate data scientist.

• However, over the past five years, roughly 24% of 140 colleges and universities analyzed saw student rents grow faster than market-rate rents.

Between the lines: When rents rise in a metro area, student housing tends to follow suit, research suggests.

• Strong demand to live near campus instead of elsewhere in the metro can also keep student rents high.
• So can luxury apartments (think: saunas, yoga studios and infinity pools), which have moved into many student housing markets.

The bottom line: "While multifamily rents continue to command higher rates, the rapid growth in student housing rents is creating a mounting affordability crisis for students," according to a recent Moody's analysis.

• The financial strain could limit access to higher education, especially for lower-income students.

📺 Alumni of the shuttered Austin entertainment company Rooster Teeth launched a new Austin PBS series focused on mental health. (CultureMap Austin)

🗳️ Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch and legislative staff member Samantha Lopez-Resendez are squaring off in the March Democratic primary for House District 50 in north Austin, currently held by James Talarico, who is running for U.S. Senate. (Austin American-Statesman 🔒)

🎨 Austin will now offer free graffiti removal for private properties, funded by city utility fees. (KEYE)

👋 Asher here, your fearless sausage correspondent.

As part of its German Passport events this month, which celebrates Deutsche victuals, Central Market is offering sessions on sausage making.

Why it matters: My mother-in-law hails from Germany, and my wife still becomes child-like giddy around the words "Nürnberger bratwurst" — a sausage characterized by its fine grind and marjoram spice profile.

If you go: The Central Market on North Lamar offers free sausage-making demonstrations today at 2pm and again on Saturday at noon.

• The Westgate Central Market has a sausage tasting booth today at 4pm and sausage-making demonstration at Saturday at noon.

🧐 What we're reading: Daniel Vaughn's piece in Texas Monthly about Bill Dumas, aka the "Sausage Sensei."

🗓️ Mark your calendar with our Event Board.

The Texas Tribune Festival in Downtown Austin Nov. 13-15: Shape the future of Texas at the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival. They bring together Texas' most inspiring thinkers, leaders and innovators to discuss the issues that matter to you.

Hosting an event? Email [email protected].

Robert Redford, who died early yesterday at the age of 89, had a key formative experience in Austin — it's where he learned to swim, at Barton Springs at age 5.

What he said: "That time was very, very important to me," he said in 2008. My early experiences with land and with nature really started in Texas."

• His mother's family was from Central Texas.

Between the lines: Redford was a supporter of the environmental group Save Our Springs Alliance, which focuses on preservation of Barton Springs, and was an executive producer of the 2007 film "The Unforeseen," about the battle over suburban development in Austin.