OP-ED: TEXAS REDISTRICTING NEEDS TO PROTECT CAMPUS COMMUNITIES

Dec 13, 2021

By: Jocelyn Carrera and CJ Cetina

Following the 2020 U.S. Census, the state of Texas reapportioned its districts based on population changes in a process called redistricting. This process should be guided by public input so that policymakers can make informed decisions about what our districts should look like. However, that has not been the case in our state. Texas has decades of partisan and racial gerrymandering embedded in its legislative districts. As a result, many communities continue to be split apart, leaving them unheard and underrepresented in our government. Of note, colleges and universities across the state and country consistently endure the consequences of redistricting processes that largely ignore their interests.

Between a lack of notice for public hearings, the need to travel hours to Austin for hearings that lack remote testimony options, and the need to potentially wait hours to testify in the end, our redistricting process does not encourage public participation. In fact, it actively discourages it.

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