The Board of Regents at Texas A&M voted earlier this month to require instructors to get approval from the university president before teaching courses on "race or gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity."
Professors must also "adhere to the approved syllabus for each course;" they may not move into topics that are not related or material that does not match up with the approved syllabus.
"Texas A&M has been rife with a lot of problems about professors teaching topics on gender identity and sexual orientation in a way that has been very dictatorial and not expressive or allowing other viewpoints," reports Mary Elizabeth Castle, director of government relations for Texas Values.
The University of Texas System recently began reviewing courses on 14 public campuses for compliance with a statewide crackdown on left-wing gender ideology after a video recorded from a Texas A&M children's literature course went viral.
A student was kicked from class for objecting to the lesson on "gender and sexuality." The professor of the course was later fired, and two senior administrators were removed from their positions. The university’s president stepped down shortly after.
Castle says the regents are definitely in the right to take a handle on this, but she questions how enforceable the policy is and wonders whether the professors will comply.
"As someone who has experience in working in the office of a president of a public university, I can say it will be very difficult for the president's office to review every syllabus," Castle warns. "A lot of universities already require professors to have their syllabus approved by a dean."
She thinks there is room for discussion to find a more efficient way than what Texas A&M is proposing. Maybe that involves more reviews of professors who hold each other accountable.
Meanwhile, Castle hopes the conservative professors who want to teach about the harms of gender ideology or the truth of biblical views on sexuality will not have to go through what she calls the "strenuous process of being reviewed by the president."
