Updated April 6, 2024.

Advocacy is telling your story. How has the academic freedom from censorship by the institution or government fostered intellectual exploration and critical thinking skills in the students you’ve taught and those you’ve worked with in research? Any moments of “light bulbs” turning on for students? Any stories of supporting students during the pandemic? Any stories of alumni? What other ways have your teaching, research, and service benefitted Texans and Texas? How has your discipline benefitted Texans and Texas? Please tell your story in way the general public can understand.

Our Texas Legislature Higher Ed Bill Tracker lists the bills supportive of academic freedom, tenure and other higher ed values and those that aren’t. The Texas AAUP Conference has been advocating at the State Legislature with the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Texas Faculty Association, Texas Association of College Teachers, and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. We have now met with all 11 members of the House Higher Education Committee as well as more than 40 other State Legislative Offices.

Below is contact info for Texas AAUP members and other resources that can help you in writing op-eds, social media posts, and talking points, as well as meeting Legislators. Here are the Higher Ed Bills that the Texas AAUP Conference is tracking. Here are one-page handouts on the impact of banning teaching of critical race theory, diversity equity & inclusion, and tenure. And here is an Analysis of SB 16, 17 and 18 which are bills to limit academic freedom, ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, and eliminate tenure at public institutions of higher education.

Contact Texas AAUP Organizers

• David Albert, davidalbertphd@gmail.com, Legislative Visits; Testifying
• Karma Chávez, karmachavez@gmail.com, Talking Points; Testifying
• Jen Ebbeler, jenebbeler@gmail.com, Op-eds, Blogs
• Brian Evans, halftoning@juno.com; Legislative Visits; Testifying
• Andrea Gore, andrea.gore@icloud.com, Op-Eds; Legislative Visits
• Polly Strong, strongpolly@gmail.com, Twitter
• Tony Villanueva, tvmc98@yahoo.com, Facebook

General Legislative advocacy training

• “How a Bill Becomes Law“, Texas House of Representatives.
• Texas Lege 101, Videorecording Feb. 28, 2023. Texas Civil Rights Project. Slides.
• Texas AAUP Advocacy for Academic Freedom, Tenure and Other Higher Education Values in Texas, Mar. 24, 2023.
• Suggestions for Legislative Action during the 88th Texas Legislative Session, Mar. 24, 2023.
• Maps of the Texas Capitol, by the Texas Civil Rights Project

Testifying at the Texas Legislature

• Infographic on testifying at the Texas Legislature
• Sign up for Texas AFT training for testifying at the Texas Legislature.
• Guide to Testifying by the Texas Election Reform Commission

Academic Freedom from Censorship by Institution & Gov (SB 16)

• Talking points on bills limiting academic freedom, eliminating tenure and banning DEI practices (SB 16, 17, 18) April 29, 2023
• 13 people testified on March 23, 2023, including AAUP member Karma Chavez (1:27:57) on part I of the hearing.  Hearing on SB 16 begins at the 13:14 mark.
• Op-ed: T. Scott Johnson, “Opinion: Texas SB 16 Set to Undermine Academic Integrity“, Caller Times, USA Today Network, April 28, 2023.
• Op-Ed: V. Jo Hsu, “Republicans’ Hostile Takeover of Higher Education“, The Progressive Magazine, March 30, 2023.
• AAUP/AFT Analysis of Texas SB 16, 17 & 18 (see SB 16)
• Banning CRT: one-page white paper and two-page talking points
• Texas AAUP Supporting Higher Education Values in Texas, Feb. 2023
• Tabitha Morton, “H.B. 1006 and H.B. 1607: The Eighty-Eighth Texas Legislature’s Attack on Academic Freedom in Texas“, AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom, Nov. 9, 2023. HB 1607 bans certain kinds of instruction like SB 16 does.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion DEI (SB 17)

• Texas AAUP, Texas Anti-Tenure Senate Bill 17 Update & Actions You Can Take, May 26, 2023.
• Texas AAUP, Talking Points on SB 17 and 18, May 26, 2023
• House Version of SB 17 (also see All Versions of SB 17 below)
  • Response to the Passage of Anti-DEI and Anti-Tenure Bills by the Texas House Higher Education Committee, May 13, 2023
  • Statement Against SB 17 by Texas AAUP and TACT, May 11, 2023
  • 251 people testified on May 8, 2023 with 225 against, 23 in favor, and 3 neutral. 130 registered to testify in person.  Hearing videorecording starts after 3:04:45 in part 2.
• Senate Version of SB 17 (also see All Versions of SB 17 below)
  • Talking points on bills limiting academic freedom, eliminating tenure and banning DEI practices (SB 16, 17, 18) April 29, 2023
  • AAUP & AFT Analysis of Texas SB 16, 17 & 18 (see SB 17)
  • Christine Julien (Assoc. Dean DEI, College of Engineering, UT Austin) and Darren Kelly (Assoc. VP, Division of Diversity & Community Engagement, UT Austin) invited testimony to the Senate Education Committee on April 12, 2023, see videorecording from 1:46 to 30:41.
  • 50 people testified on April 6, 2023, including AAUP members Andrea Gore (2:19:48), Irene Mulvey (2:25:00), Brian Evans (2:53:25), Pat Heintzelman (3:42:57), and Polly Strong (3:50:02) on part II of the hearing.  Other faculty testimony included Elizabeth Skerpan-Wheeler (2:02:51), Emilio Zamora (2:29:31), Angela Valenzuela (2:48:45) and Brent Iverson (3:46:08).  Hearing on SB 17 goes from 0:00:00 to 4:15:19.
• All Versions of SB 17
  • Banning DEI: one-page white paper and four-page talking points
  • Demographics of UT Austin, Texas A&M and the State of Texas
  • Brian Evans, Andrea Gore, Brian Korgel, Diana Marculescu, and Angela Valenzuela, “How Senate Bill 17 and Banning Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Jeopardizes University Research Funding: A STEM Perspective“, Apr. 15, 2023.
  • Op-Ed: Karma Chavez, “Opinion: Equity, inclusion, and access don’t divide us. They bring us together“, Austin American-Statesman, April 16, 2023.
  • Op-Ed: Christine Julien, “DEI: What it is and why it matters in engineering“, Dallas Morning News, April 1, 2023.
  • Op-Ed: V. Jo Hsu, “Republicans’ Hostile Takeover of Higher Education“, The Progressive Magazine, March 30, 2023.
  • Legislative Black Caucus press conference opposing Gov. Abbott’s anti-DEI agenda
  • Gov. Abbott tells state agencies to stop considering diversity in hiring
  • Tabitha Morton, “H.B. 1006 and H.B. 1607: The Eighty-Eighth Texas Legislature’s Attack on Academic Freedom in Texas“, AAUP Journal of Academic Freedom, Nov. 9, 2023. HB 1006 bans DEI programs and practices like SB 17 does.

Tenure (SB 18)

• Texas AAUP, Texas Anti-Tenure Senate Bill 18 Update & Actions You Can Take, May 26, 2023
• Texas AAUP, Talking Points on SB 17 and 18, May 26, 2023
• House Versions of SB 18
• Senate Versions of SB 18
  • Talking points on bills limiting academic freedom, eliminating tenure and banning DEI practices (SB 16, 17, 18) April 29, 2023
  • Brian L. Evans, Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty in the United States, Texas A&M & UT Austin, Apr. 3, 2023
  • 21 gave testimony on March 30, 2023, at the Senate Higher Education Subcommittee including AAUP Members Brian Evans (YouTube) and Andrea Gore (39:21), Pat Heintzelman (41:13), Derek Chiou (55:48) and Karma Chavez (1:15:28) on part II of the hearing.  The second part of the hearing on SB 18 goes from 0:00:00 to 1:26:00.  The invited testimony starts at 44:26 in part I of the hearing.
  • Eliminating tenure: one-page white paper and two-page talking points
  • Op-Ed: Jen Ebbeler, “What Ending Tenure Would Mean to Texas“, Inside Higher Ed, April 20, 2023.
  • Op-Ed: Andrea Gore, “UT scientist: Killing tenure would ruin the state’s research universities“, Houston Chronicle, March 24, 2023.
  • AAUP & AFT Analysis of SB 16, 17 & 18 (original versions of the bills)
• Texas AAUP Supporting Higher Education Values in Texas, Feb. 2023
• “Texas AAUP Press Release for House passes Senate Bill 18“, May 23, 2023.
• “How the National Tenure System is Critical to Being Competitive for Federal Research Grants to Public Universities in Texas: A STEM Perspective“, May 22, 2023
• Statement Against SB 18 by Texas AAUP and TACT, May 16, 2023
• Texas AAUP Response to the Passage of Anti-DEI and Anti-Tenure Bills by the Texas House Higher Education Committee, May 13, 2023
• House Higher Ed Committee heard SB 18 on May 8, 2023. Public testimony: 178 against, 5 in favor, 3 neutral.  71 registered to testify in person. After none of the in-person testimonies for SB 18 were in favor of the bill, Chair John Kuempel (R-Seguin) commented that he had never seen that happen before in his 13 years in the Legislature. Hearing videorecording starts at 32:04 in part 1 and continues until 3:04:45 in part 2.

Testimonies given before the Texas House Higher Education Committee

• Three-minute time limit for oral testimony (about 400 words) or 3000-character limit for online submissions of the text.
• Example: See the 51:43 mark for April 24, 2023, hearing recording

Testimonies given before the Texas Senate Higher Education Subcommittee

• Two-minute time limit for oral testimony (about 250-270 words)
• SB 16.  March 23^rd.  13 testified including AAUP member Karma Chavez (1:27:57) on part I of the hearing.  Hearing on SB 16 begins at the 13:14 mark.
• SB 17.  April 6^th.  50 testified including AAUP members Andrea Gore (2:19:48), Irene Mulvey (2:25:00), Brian Evans (2:53:25), Pat Heintzelman (3:42:57), and Polly Strong (3:50:02) on part II of the hearing.  Other faculty testimony included Elizabeth Skerpan-Wheeler (2:02:51), Emilio Zamora (2:29:31), Angela Valenzuela (2:48:45) and Brent Iverson (3:46:08).  Hearing on SB 17 goes from 0:00:00 to 4:15:19.
• SB 18.  March 30^th.  21 gave testimony including AAUP Members Brian Evans (YouTube) and Andrea Gore (39:21), Pat Heintzelman (41:13), Derek Chiou (55:48) and Karma Chavez (1:15:28) on part II of the hearing.  The second part of the hearing on SB 18 goes from 0:00:00 to 1:26:00.  The invited testimony starts at 44:26 in part I of the hearing.

Other actions you can take before a bill’s passage

• Call House members to oppose anti-DEI SB 17 and anti-tenure SB 18
• Visit Legislative Offices in your local district
• Sign Stop Elimination of Tenure
• Other actions you can take

Op-ed resources, blogs, and social media posts

• OpEd Primer by Andrea Gore, Texas AAUP
• Op-Ed Project Community Resources
• Talking points on bills limiting academic freedom, eliminating tenure and banning DEI practices (SB 16, 17, 18) April 29, 2023
• Op-Ed: Andrea Gore, “UT scientist: Killing tenure would ruin the state’s research universities“, Houston Chronicle, March 24, 2023.
• Op-Ed: Christine Julien, “DEI: What it is and why it matters in engineering“, Dallas Morning News, April 1, 2023.
• Op-Ed: Jen Ebbeler, “What Ending Tenure Would Mean to Texas“, Inside Higher Ed, April 20, 2023.

National AAUP statements on related issues:

• Advancing Academic Freedom
• Educational Gag Orders: Legislative Interference in Teaching About Race
• Shared Governance
• Tenure

Receive news about education issues at the State Capitol:

• The Hotline Newsletter, Texas AFT
• Legislative Insider, Texas Association of College Teachers