While it’s true that UT wasn’t actually forcing students to censor their he’s and she’s, the message was sufficiently confusing to make it unclear whether the pronoun guide was a suggestion or a decree. And it’s really no surprise that so many people interpreted Braquet’s advice as an articulation of mandatory campus-wide policy. Universities continuously blur this line when they attempt to spell out their contradictory rules on offensive speech.

The City University of New York, in fact, told faculty members last January that they should stop using gender-specific salutations like “Mr.” and “Ms.” in emails to each other and to students. CUNY’s speech requirement was mandatory; administrators maintained that the elimination of gendered language was necessary in order to bring the university in compliance with Title IX, a federal law that requires equality in higher education.

The idea that Title IX requires such a degree of language policing is preposterous, and would never stand up in court. But university administrators seem very confused about their obligation under the Bill of Rights to take the side of free speech whenever and wherever conflicts with bizarre federal dictates arise.