Texas A&M tightens rules on addressing race and gender in the classroom

Texas A&M System regents on Thursday voted to limit how instructors can discuss topics like gender identity and race ideology in classrooms.

The regents, who met in College Station on Thursday afternoon, unanimously backed a proposal decreeing that no courses “will advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity” without approval on the course and related material from the campus president’s, the policy said.

A related measure was also approved by regents that said faculty members could not “teach material that is inconsistent with the approved syllabus for the course.”

The new rules will take effect across all 12 campuses in the university system next semester, per Fox News.

Together, the two policies show an effort by Texas A&M system leaders to assert stronger control over classrooms at a time when Republican officials in the state have accused public universities of “indoctrinating” students with liberal ideas about race and gender. This movement has unfolded at the same time as President Donald Trump’s campaign to pressure elite schools.

Texas, the country’s most populous conservative state, has seen both its K-12 and higher education systems ensnared in battles over what should be taught in classrooms.

Professors have argued that conservative politicians are trying to stifle open debates and intellectual inquiry, per The New York Times.

In September, the university system fired a lecturer after she was accused of teaching a course that recognized more than two genders.

Sam Torn, a regent who chairs the Committee on Academic and Student Affairs, said that it was becoming clear that some Texas A&M courses were going beyond what administrators wanted.

Torn added that curriculum is created and approved based on the knowledge needed for the students to succeed in their chosen field.

“It is unacceptable for other material to be taught instead,” he said, per The New York Times.

According to Inside Higher Ed, Texas A&M faculty members and external advocacy groups say the new rules violate academic freedom. Many professors have questions about how the policies will be implemented and enforced.

An associate professor of Political Science at Texas A&M San Antonio, Dan Braaten, said he was shocked by the “egregiousness” of the policies but not surprised by them.

“Faculty are extremely worried,” Braaten said, per Inside Higher Ed. “They’re wondering, can they teach the classes they’re scheduled to teach in the spring? Who’s going to be looking at their syllabi?”

“Is the president of each A&M University going to have to approve every syllabus?” he added. “Are there penalties for any of this? It’s just a complete, serious violation of academic freedom.”

The system’s vice chancellor for academic affairs, James R. Hallmark, said the language adopted on Thursday was just “refinement and clarification” of existing policies and did not add new limitations on “scholarly inquiry.”

“The goal is simple and straightforward: to ensure that what is taught in the classroom accurately reflects the approved curriculum and that students receive a learning environment grounded in clarity, academic rigor and respect,” Hallmark said to regents before the final vote, per The New York Times.

Hallmark added that empowering campus administrators to set limits on curriculum was not an effort to police individual speech.

“This does not diminish academic freedom,” Hallmark said. “It reinforces the balance between academic freedom and academic responsibility.”

The original proposal for one of the adopted policies said no academic course would “teach” about subjects such as gender ideology. That proposal was revised to prohibit advocating on certain topics, a distinction made to rebut criticism that teaching was being dictated.