DENTON, Texas — Ahead of next semester, the University of North Texas has removed words including race, gender and equity from the titles and descriptions of some courses.
“The College of Education is currently conducting a state-mandated curriculum alignment review to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with state-required teacher education standards,” the university said in a statement to Spectrum News. ” he said. “Following the review, we are updating course names, content, readings, etc. to align with state teacher training standards. This review is unrelated to SB17.”
But critics see the change as an over-compliance with a new state law banning DEI departments and programs at public universities.
“They are interpreting the law in a way that is completely contrary to what the law actually says. And they are doing it in a way that crushes the academic freedom of faculty,” PEN America Learning said Jeremy Young, leader of the Freedom Program.
Sen. Brandon Clayton, who authored the DEI ban, said in a Senate hearing that DEI courses violate the spirit of the law.
“We’re here for excellence, and if we can get past the difficult conversations about nomenclature and how we call our units and what we’re actually producing, we’ll be together.” “We can achieve that,” he said.
At a faculty meeting, UNT Chief Compliance Officer Clay Simmons advised faculty to generalize their research.
“So if you’re doing research on homelessness, you have to be very careful if you’re trying to focus on specific identities within the homeless population. So if you’re looking at LGBTQ homeless individuals, you have to be very careful. You have to make sure it’s narrowly tailored within the scope of the job,” Simmons said.
Professor Adam Briggle’s current research focuses on healthcare for transgender youth.
“They are committing preemptive obedience by giving up this academic freedom before the state asks them to,” Briggle said.
The state’s DEI ban is intended to create exceptions for teaching and research, but Briggle doesn’t think the university will protect him if he receives complaints about his research. .
“Right now, they’re not sending us a strong signal that they’re defending freedom of research and education here,” Briggle said.
This all comes as Texas A&M University recently eliminated 52 underperforming programs, including a minor in LGBTQ studies. The university said the move is not related to SB 17.
In January, Congressman Brian Harrison voiced his disapproval of LGBTQ minors and was notified that it would be removed in September. He plans to introduce legislation that would block state funding from universities offering similar courses.
“We will not give a dime to the president’s offices of public universities that abuse tax dollars to fund liberal indoctrination on their campuses,” Harrison said.
Briggle said further limitations on DEI in the classroom are a slippery slope.
“You also have to draw the line somewhere, but for me it’s education and research. These need to be inviolable by the state, and I’m concerned that we fall into that,” he said.
