As Texas lawmakers crack down on DEI curriculum, lawsuits fly and professors revolt– www.thecollegefix.com

ANALYSIS: Are public college classrooms subject to state control? Depends who you ask.

Two recent lawsuits brought by the American Association of Professors against the Texas Tech and Texas A&M systems alleging free speech and academic freedom violations have raised questions, concerns, and debate about state authority over publicly funded college classrooms.

The lawsuits center on one-year-old policies within the systems limiting instruction on race or gender ideology without administrative preapproval, regulations that came in the wake of a new law giving campus leaders more oversight and authority over curricula.

The law, SB 37, was billed as a way to rid university curriculum of diversity, equity and inclusion dogma and refocus on workforce preparation, and campus leaders in the Lone Star State quickly took the opportunity to force professors to cull curricula viewed as too ideological.

While professors argue the systems’ policies are too vague, not enforced in a content-neutral manner, and have forced scholars to cancel classes and censor themselves, others see the oversight as long overdue.

Richard Lowery, a finance professor at UT-Austin and vocal DEI critic, said the state response comes after years of negligent oversight over academic institutions’ curricula.

“If they let the faculty run the school, it is still under state control,” he said. “The difference is that the legislature are elected representatives and must answer for their decisions to the public.”