The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents unanimously passed a new policy Nov. 13 prohibiting academic courses that “advocate race or gender ideology,” sparking student and faculty concerns over the future of academic freedom across the state — and here at UTD.
After Texas A&M University experienced political scrutiny from a student’s secret recording back in September, which resulted in a fired professor, a demoted department chair and the resignation of the school president, the board revised Agenda Item No. 4.2. The revision requires presidential approval for all academic syllabi related to race and gender, uses artificial intelligence to analyze whether or not course material matches syllabi and regulates “student expressiveness” on campus in compliance with Senate Bill 2972.
Various universities underwent similar institutional changes shortly after A&M’s revisions. For example, Brandon Creighton, Texas Tech University’s chancellor, approved a new policy Dec. 1 where sexual orientation course content must be overseen by the Board of Regents and faculty must comply that “only two sexes, male and female, are recognized … when instructing students.”
The University of Texas System had already announced a few months ago that it would review all gender studies courses at each of its 14 universities, including UTD, to comply with federal and state laws. Although no state law in Texas prohibits what universities can teach, public fear that the UT System will respond to political pressure and restrict academic freedom across its universities escalated after Texas A&M’s policy change.
International political economy junior Oliver Wroten, who serves as an at-large senator in Student Government, said that in the past, UTD has struggled with prioritizing free speech on campus.
“We are seeing this wave of the school restricting speech based on its content,” Wroten said. “’Oh, does it talk about transgender people?’ And then people pretend to be terrified. It’s really frustrating.”
Reflecting President Donald Trump’s executive order on funding gender ideology initiatives for K-12 education, the policy defined gender ideology as a “concept of self-assessed gender identity replacing, and disconnected from, the biological category of sex.” It also outlined race ideology as a discriminatory stance that “attempts to shame a particular race or ethnicity.”
Wroten said that many classes — and the entire UTD student body — rely on gender and race education for majors such as international political science.
“UTD is a school that is really very nerdy and very queer,” Wroten said. “It would harm the environment that the school cultivates for queer people … Also, I think that restricting the discussion of race in classrooms is going to make some people, especially people who aren’t white, a little bit more concerned about coming to the school.”
UTD is a school that is really very nerdy and very queer. It would harm the environment that the school cultivates for queer people.
— Oliver Wroten, UTD Student Government senator
James Hallmark, vice chancellor for academic affairs at Texas A&M University, said during the board meeting that this policy “does not diminish academic freedom. It reinforces the balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility.”
According to the new policy, “a faculty member should not introduce a controversial matter … or teach material that is inconsistent with the approved syllabus for the course.”
Restricting content at UTD could affect students’ experience in the classroom. Wroten said he believes that “the best professors I’ve had are [the] people who are willing to step outside of the curriculum and teach what matters … Restricting what people can teach … makes that process so much more challenging, and it makes it threatening.”
On Nov. 19, the A&M chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a nationwide union representing professors, released a statement condemning the decision from the regents. The statement said it was “a direct attack on academic freedom, faculty expertise and the intellectual development of Texas A&M students.” This change comes in the wake of spreading fear among faculty across the state who feel a need to self-censor content to avoid institutional retaliation.
That fear has crept into UTD, too. Wroten said his professors feel like they need to self-censor what they teach. AAUP-TAMU said restricting discussions around race and gender were not neutral actions but instead attempts to insert the political ideology of the regents into every classroom, undermining the educational promise of the university.
“This is cruelty and indoctrination in wolf’s clothing,” AAUP-TAMU President Leonard Bright said.
This is cruelty and indoctrination in wolf’s clothing.
— Leonard Bright, American Association of University Professors A&M chapter president
Wroten also said that he does not think that artificial intelligence can accurately accomplish the Board of Regents’ goals.
“If you are going to make legislation that requires hours more of labor and work …you should be willing to put in the efforts to make that legislation work,” Wroten said. “If you’re just going to give it to AI and tell them to do it, it’s ineffective, it’s inaccurate and it’s harmful to people.”
Trump has offered UT System’s board federal funding in return for acknowledging conservative values, including recognizing only two genders. UT Austin, alongside two other universities — the University of North Texas and Texas Woman’s University — have announced plans to review their gender and race courses, according to the Texas Tribune.
UTD has not made a similar announcement yet. However, “…there’s a pretty strong likelihood that we’re going to see [policy’s similar to Texas A&M] spread … to UTD,” Wroten said. “It’s going to put pressure on UTD to conform to these ideas … People are going to start projecting that expectation into UTD’s policies, even though we’re separate institutions with separate structures.”
One Comment
Excellent report & desperately needed warning.