Dive Brief:
- Texas is "targeting professors who are more focused on pushing leftist ideologies rather than preparing students to lead our nation," Gov. Greg Abbott said in a social media post Sunday.
- The Republican governor lambasted "indoctrination" at all levels of education in response to news coverage of the University of Texas at Austin's decision to remove Art Markman, a psychology professor, from his role as senior vice provost for academic affairs. Markman said in a LinkedIn post last week that university leadership removed him from his provost position over "ideological differences" but did not give further detail.
- Abbott's comments come after two new Texas laws began dramatically reshaping academic governance and free speech at public colleges and a wave of high-profile faculty firings over classroom instruction and personal politics swept the state’s institutions.
Dive Insight:
As of Sept. 1, Texas law began to reduce the influence of faculty over institutional decisions and academic oversight — including defanging faculty senates — and shift that power to political appointees, such as the newly created role of higher education ombudsman.
Later that month, Texas lawmakers created select committees in both chambers of the Legislature intended to investigate “bias, discourse, and freedom of speech” at state colleges. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick linked the committees' launch to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who Patrick said was "assassinated for simply expressing his First Amendment rights."
The lieutenant governor's statement came just days after several student groups across the University of Texas system sued over another new state law that prohibits "any speech or expressive conduct protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution" on college campuses from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the free speech advocacy group representing the students, called the law — which Abbott signed and Patrick endorsed — “blatantly unconstitutional” and a violation of the First Amendment.
Last week, a federal judge temporarily barred the University of Texas System from enforcing the law while the court hears the case.
At UT-Austin, some faculty are further on edge after newly installed President Jim Davis announced the creation of a "Core Curriculum Task Force" to review the university’s general education curriculum and propose revisions. The panel consists of 18 faculty members, all appointed by the administration.
Faculty at UT Austin told The Guardian that they fear this means entire departments could be eliminated — particularly those specializing in ethnic and regional disciplines, none of which have representation on the task force.
Markman, the psychology professor at UT-Texas, is hardly the first fired Texas faculty member to gain national attention.
Some 100 miles east, Texas A&M University fired a children’s literature professor in September after a state lawmaker shared a video of the instructor teaching about gender identity. The institution also removed a department head and dean from their administrative positions over the incident.
Texas A&M's president, Mark Welsh, stepped down the next week amid increasing political pressure.
Around the same time, Texas State University fired Tom Alter, a tenured history professor, after he attended an online socialist forum. Alter spoke about organizing working classes against capitalism and mentioned a hypothetical “overthrow” of the U.S. without going into detail.
Texas State President Kelly Damphousse said the professor’s actions “amounted to serious professional and personal misconduct” and alleged that he had incited violence without going into further detail.
The Texas State Employees Union has called for Alter to be reinstated, describing his termination as "a deeply troubling move that strikes at the heart of the First Amendment."
A judge ordered Texas State in September to reinstate Alter and give him due process over the allegations. This month, the university announced it had once again fired the professor after "a thorough review of Dr. Alter’s conduct and the information provided during his due process hearing," the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Alter has said he will continue to pursue legal action against the university.
