Across Texas, public higher education is facing sustained political pressure that is reshaping what universities can teach, research, and support. State level policy changes have expanded governing board authority, restricted or dismantled diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, and encouraged complaint-driven oversight of curricula—creating a chilling effect in which faculty and students are pushed toward silence rather than inquiry. This is a structural shift in how academic decisions are made and who gets to make them.
Two recent flashpoints illustrate these pressures. At the Texas Tech University System, Chancellor Brandon Creighton’s December 1, 2025 memorandum imposed a course content censorship regime in which all course material related to gender identity and sexuality is censored pending Board of Regents approval. Faculty are required to use a system portal ("Course Content Oversight and Review") to report any materials referencing more than two sexes, content related to gender identity, or content related to human sexual identity. An affirmative response triggers an escalating review process that culminates with the Board of Regents and direction to remove the material until the review is completed. In plain terms, this operates as prior restraint: a directive to silence lawful, discipline-relevant teaching in advance, under threat of discipline and termination.
At the Texas A&M University System, new rules have produced highly visible forms of curricular censorship and program retrenchment. In early 2026, a professor was instructed to remove certain Plato readings from a philosophy course because they could implicate the system’s restrictions on discussions of race and gender ideology. Around the same time, Texas A&M moved to eliminate its Women’s & Gender Studies program under the same broader policy framework—signaling that these pressures affect not only individual lessons but the institutional capacity to sustain entire areas of teaching and research.
This page offers a brief overview of major statewide developments to help those affected understand the pattern and respond effectively.
Texas Tech System Leader Cancels Academic Programs “Centered On” Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Texas Tribune, Apr. 10, 2026.
Public University Professors in Texas Say a New Law Restricts Their Academic Freedom, All Things Considered, Apr. 8, 2026.
Texas Tech Students Feel Unsupported as New Policies Affect Studies, Culture, KTTZ, Mar. 19, 2026.
Race, Gender, and Plato: Inside Texas A&M’s Censorship Machine, Chronicle of Higher Education, Mar. 11, 2026.
Censoring Courses Isn't the Law in Texas. Public Universities Are Doing It Anyway, Chronicle of Higher Education, Mar. 5, 2026.
Inside Texas A&M’s Scramble to Censor Its Curriculum, Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 27, 2026.
Texas Tech Regents Unexpectedly Take No Public Action on What Can Be Taught on Race, Gender, Texas Tribune, Feb. 26, 2026.
UT Policy Asks Faculty to Avoid "Controversial" Topics in Class, Inside Higher Ed, Feb. 20, 2026.
University of Texas Regents Approve Limits on Teaching “Unnecessary Controversial Subjects, Texas Tribune, Feb. 19, 2026
Texas Tech Medical School Cancels Talk on Health, Ethical Considerations in Late-Pregnancy Abortions, Texas Tribune, Feb. 18, 2026.
Texas Tech Struggles with New Rules that Changed What Students Learn about Race, Gender, Sexuality, Texas Tribune, Feb. 18, 2026.
Texas A&M University to End Women’s Studies Due to New Policy on Race and Gender Topics, AP News, Jan. 30, 2026.
Texas A&M Closes Women’s and Gender Studies Programs, Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 30, 2026.
About 200 Texas A&M Courses Could Change Due to New Restrictions on Teaching Gender, Race, Texas Tribune, Jan. 7, 2026.
Plato Censored as Texas A&M Carries Out Course Review, Inside Higher Ed, Jan. 7, 2026.
Texas Tech Puts Its Anti-Trans Rules in Writing, Inside Higher Ed, Dec. 2, 2025.
Texas Tech Clarified Its Anti-Trans Policies in an FAQ—Then Removed It, Inside Higher Ed, Oct. 3, 2025.
Texas Tech System Bans Mention of Transgender, Nonbinary Topics in Classrooms, Austin American Statesman, Sept. 26, 2025.
Texas Tech’s Limits on Gender Identity Discussion Deepen Fears of Politics Breaching Academic Freedom, Texas Tribune, Sept. 26, 2025.
Texas Senate Bill 37 approves curriculum oversight of higher education institutions and affects institutional governance.
Texas Senate Bill 17 restricts DEI in higher education.
Texas House Bill 229 defines "biological sex" and asserts that there are only two human sexes recognized under law.
Texas Senate Bill 6 and House Bill 239 govern that individuals may only use bathrooms and changing facilities based on their sex assigned at birth, and specifically legislate the use of these facilities in higher education institutions.
Image attribution: Calsidyrose, Vintage Texas, CC BY 2.0