The Texas Tech University System chancellor has instructed its institutions to prohibit classroom instruction that teaches there are more than two genders to “comply” with new conservative-backed laws that only recognize male and female sexes, a move civil liberties groups decry as censorious and damaging to institutions.
Chancellor Tedd Mitchell, who is set to be replaced by Republican Conroe Sen. Brandon Creighton once regents give final approval, issued the guidance in a memo sent late Thursday, citing “recent developments” at universities that “highlighted the importance” of compliance.
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“As a public university system, our adherence to these requirements is fundamental to our responsibilities as stewards of public trust,” Mitchell wrote in his message to university presidents. “Therefore, while recognizing the First Amendment rights of employees in their personal capacity, faculty must comply with these laws in the instruction of students, within the course and scope of their employment.”
This month, Texas A&M University fired a professor for teaching about gender identity in a children’s literature course after a fierce conservative social media campaign, spearheaded by Rep. Brian Harrison, to quench “liberal indoctrination.”
Harrison, a Republican from Midlothian who has been criticized by both parties for his aggressive attacking of diversity, equity and inclusion and state spending, shared a video taken by an anonymous student as she accused the professor of breaking the law for teaching that there are more than two genders.
There is no law in Texas that restricts teaching at universities on DEI topics, LGBTQ studies or gender studies, but Mitchell referred to House Bill 229, guidance from Gov. Greg Abbott and President Donald Trump’s executive order that only recognizes two sexes, male and female, invalidating the fact that transgender and nonbinary individuals are recognized by every U.S. major medical organization.
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Texas A&M President Mark Welsh resigned last week after conservative lawmakers accused him of mismanaging the situation, including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who has been a vocal critic of “liberal” faculty since 2021. In a letter to campus, Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar said both parties decided it is the “right time” for new leadership.
Mitchell’s memo affects five Texas public universities, including Angelo State University, which reportedly had ordered faculty this week to not teach about transgender topics. The system enrolls more than 64,000 students annually.
Multiple nonprofit civil rights groups contacted by the American-Statesman expressed dismay at the order and said it jeopardizes students’ education, sense of belonging and freedom.
Adam Steinbaugh, a senior attorney with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said the order compromises the exchange of ideas on sex and gender, some of “the most-discussed social and political issues in our country.”
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“But at Texas Tech universities, you can debate and discuss these issues anywhere other than a university classroom. That’s the one place where the exchange of ideas should be most free,” Steinbaugh said in a statement. “The First Amendment protects that exchange of ideas and no president’s directive, governor’s diktat, or chancellor’s command can override the Constitution. This is obvious censorship that has no place in the United States.”
Brad Pritchett, interim CEO of Equality Texas, said in a statement to the American-Statesman that the Texas Tech order erases transgender people from history and will hurt state universities in their pursuit of excellence and truth.
“Students deserve universities where professors fearlessly observe and question our world — limiting classroom discussion and research topics will only degrade our state’s standing in the world of academia,” Pritchett said. “Freedom cannot exist in a state where even our ideas are policed.”
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American Civil Liberties Union of Texas staff attorney Chloe Kempf said in a statement that the new guidance “is cruel, discriminatory, and reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of state and federal law.”
“This is an egregious attack on academic freedom and a targeted affront to the Texas Tech University System’s own LGBTQIA+ community,” Kempf’s statement said. “The bottom line is that the Constitution requires — and Texans deserve — free and open learning environments in institutes of higher education.”