Newsom vetoes California campus protest transparency bill

California Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill 2551, which would have required the California State University system—and asked the University of California system—to hold forums on campus protest rules and report protest-related student conduct violations and disciplinary actions by race and gender. Supporters said the added data could help determine whether enforcement of time, place and manner restrictions, strengthened after 2024 campus protests over the Gaza war, had disproportionately affected some students. Newsom said existing public meetings and communication channels already let campus communities offer feedback, making additional forums unnecessary; his veto statement did not address the proposed data reporting. CSU had urged him to veto the bill, citing concerns about uncertainty and noting that 201 of its 461,612 students were found to have violated its protest policy in the 2024–25 academic year.