Statement by Karma Chavez,  President of the AAUP chapter at UT Austin on the impending action by the Texas A&M Board of Regents regarding civil rights and academic freedom

November 11, 2025

We stand in solidarity with faculty and students in the Texas A&M University System who are opposing the revisions to Policy 08.01, Civil Rights Protections and Compliance, and 12.01, Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure. to be considered on November 13, 2025 by the Board of Regents. This resolution is a breach of trust with faculty and students and a serious attack on academic freedom and the quality of education offered at Texas A&M institutions.

The resolution seeks to squelch teaching about gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation at Texas A&M institutions by requiring advance permission from the President to teach about “gender ideology.” This is defined as “a concept of self-assessed gender identity replacing, and disconnected from, the biological category of sex.” As anyone who teaches gender studies knows, the concept of gender is always distinct from sexual difference. Therefore, any teaching about gender issues–e.g., gender pay disparities, gendered work roles, gendered vulnerability to domestic abuse–would be subjected to special scrutiny by administrators unfamiliar with the subject area. This violates academic freedom, faculty’s free speech rights, and Texas A&M’s commitment to quality higher education.

The resolution would also require permission in advance to teach about “race ideology.” This is defined as “a concept that attempts to shame a particular race or ethnicity, accuse them of being oppressors in a racial hierarchy or conspiracy, ascribe to them less value as contributors to society and public discourse because of their race or ethnicity, or assign them intrinsic guilt based on the actions of their presumed ancestors or relatives in other areas of the world.” This definition of race ideology appears to be based on the misconception that faculty engage in indoctrination that belittles their students and attempts to instill shame or guilt in them. This assumption is untrue, based on hearsay, and damages the reputation of the stellar faculty at Texas A&M institutions. Faculty who teach about race engage in empirically-based lectures and discussions, and they must be allowed to do so when such material is, in the faculty’s own estimation, relevant to their course. Doing otherwise violates academic freedom and subjects faculty to unconstitutional prior restraint. 

The resolution would also require prior approval for course content that “promotes activism on issues related to race or ethnicity, rather than academic instruction.” This, too, is an unconstitutional prior restraint on faculty’s classroom teaching–and on experiential education as well. There are countless topics that inspire students to engage in activism with respect to race or ethnicity: the history of medicine, the history of US politics and law, the sociology of labor relations, the history of social movements, the history of immigration, global health, global economics, environmental literature, religious history, etc. Prior restraint on the teaching of these topics would greatly damage the ability of Texas A&M faculty to teach their subject matter responsibly. The resolution, if enacted, would also have a chilling effect on students’ ability to pursue their own interests in activism.

Most broadly, the resolution requires all faculty to confine their teaching to material that is consistent with the approved syllabus for the course. Anyone who has taught in a university setting realizes that this would make faculty’s teaching mechanical, out of date, and ineffective. Faculty would have to constantly monitor what they say, and how they respond to student questions and interests, against the approved syllabus. A&M recruits some of the best faculty in the world, and they must be able to teach cutting-edge topics in the areas of their expertise. They must also be allowed to help their students apply their learnings to the real world. Anything else is not worthy of the A&M brand.

In solidarity with Texas A&M faculty and students, and in recognition of the ways these changes could degrade the educational standards for all colleges and universities in Texas, we call on the Regents to vote no on this destructive resolution.