The Legislative priorities for certain Republicans and their allies for the Texas Legislature are to stifle free speech, suppress academic freedom, and silence faculty. They will also double down on bans on DEI student services.

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Second Wave of Senate Interim Legislative Charges, Higher Education Committee, September 10, 2024

• Stopping DEI to Strengthen the Texas Workforce: Examine programs and certificates at higher education institutions that maintain discriminatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies. Expose how these programs and their curriculum are damaging and not aligned with state workforce demands. Make recommendations for any needed reforms to ensure universities are appropriately educating students to meet workforce needs.
• Core Curriculum Course Accessibility: Review student access to core
  curriculum courses at Texas institutions of higher education. Examine the availability of these courses both online and in-person, as well as any issues that would prevent or reduce in-person access. Make recommendations for any needed reforms to ensure that all students have equal in-person access to core courses.

Texas Senate Higher Education Subcommittee Interim Hearings, May 14, 2024

• Hearing notice
• Testimony from 85 people on anti-DEI SB 17, 46 on free speech, and 23 on antisemitism. Some testified on more than one topic.
• Videorecording. Public testimony begins at 5:55:00.
• See “Senate Higher Ed Subcommittee Convenes to Study DEI, Free Speech, & Antisemitism“, Texas AFT, May 16, 2024

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Senate Interim Legislative Charges, Higher Education Committee, April 11, 2024

• “Faculty Senates”: Review and analyze the structures and governance in higher education, focusing on the role of “faculty senates,” and like groups, in representing faculty interests to higher education institution administrations. Make recommendations to establish guidelines for the role and representation of faculty by “faculty senates,” and like groups, at higher education institutions in Texas.
• Innovation and Technology in Higher Education: Investigate the opportunities and challenges of emerging technology on teaching and learning, focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), online education, and digital resources. Examine aspects of intellectual property as they relate to the development of AI programs and platforms by institutions of higher education and explore the ethical issues institutions of higher education should contemplate when developing AI programs and platforms. Make recommendations to responsibly and ethically utilize emerging technology to enhance learning in higher education
• Monitor the Ban on Discriminatory DEI Policies: Examine the implementation of Senate Bill 17, 88th Legislature, which bans discriminatory “DEI” initiatives at institutions of public higher education. Review and report on the progress each institution has made in aligning university policies and procedures with the provisions of Senate Bill 17, ensuring Texas college campuses foster equal opportunity and reward individual merit and achievement.
• Faculty Tenure Revisions: Monitor the implementation of Senate Bill 18, 88th Legislature, relating to the tenure and employment of faculty members at certain public institutions of higher education. Review and report on each institution’s progress toward policies and procedures aligned with the provisions set forth in Senate Bill 18.
• Combating Antisemitism on Texas College Campuses: Review campus policies to prevent antisemitism. Study the oversight Texas institutions of higher education have over the formation and operations of student organizations, including access to campus facilities and use of campus property. Make recommendations to prevent antisemitism on college campuses, while protecting First Amendment rights.
• Public Junior College State Finance Program: Monitor the implementation of the new community college funding model as recommended by the Texas Commission on Community College Finance. Report on whether the rulemaking process is being successfully completed to focus on student outcomes and enhancing the role of public junior colleges in workforce training and preparation.
• Campus Free Speech: Examine the procedures of Texas public institutions of higher education designed to protect the First Amendment free speech rights of faculty, staff, and students. Monitor and report on compliance Senate Bill 18, 86th Legislature, and make recommendations for any needed reforms.

Gov. Greg Abbott, March 20, 2024

• Title IX regulations. Governor Abbott issued a letter on May 8, 2024, to direct Texas universities to ignore President Biden’s Administration Title IX rewrite.
• Free speech. Governor Abbott issued executive order GA44 “relating to addressing acts of antisemitism in institutions of higher education” on March 27, 2024. See Texas AAUP Response to Gov. Abbott’s Executive Order Relating to Antisemitism.
• On new bills related to banning DEI. Gov. Abbott gave the Opening Keynote for the Texas Public Policy Foundation Policy Summit, March 20, 2024, from the 44:24 to the 1:31:14 mark. Here are his comments on higher education from the 57:29 to the 59:10 mark: “another policy that worked on that we work together and finally pass what is now the strongest law of his effect and that is we are concerned about the ideology that’s being hammered into our kids when they go to our schools and our colleges and our kids are not learning the the core elements that will ensure that they’re going to be better qualified to compete against their peers across our country across the globe instead they’re being indoctrinated with ideologies from far-left socialistic based professors and universities and all of that is being used under the umbrella of what seems like is kind of a Kind thing it’s called DEI and DEI is used programmatically to indoctrinate our kids and our universities in working with TPPF I signed a law that bans DEI at our universities here in the state of Texas doesn’t mean that it’s working flawlessly there’s some scofflaws out there as we speak right now just know this uh we’re monitoring what our universities are doing and make sure they will be brought into compliance and knowing what we learn about ways in which they are not in compliance will be looking forward to implementing more compliance measures when we get into the next session uh to make sure we are holding these universities accountable …” [Automatically generated transcript on YouTube]

Texas Public Policy Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan foundation, Feb. 13, 2024

• “TPPF Announces Top Priorities for the Texas Legislative Session“, Feb. 13, 2024, which includes “Restore the Proper Mission of Higher Education: Texas should ensure that public higher education institutions foster diversity of thought, encourage innovation, resist ideological conformity, and return to their proper role of widening the sphere of knowledge for students. Taxpayers should not fund programs that divide, exclude, and indoctrinate students, nor should the accreditation organizations be able to extort schools into promoting one ideological agenda.”