Dive Brief:

• Nearly half of surveyed Texas Tech University faculty said they altered course content without being asked in response to official directives that restrict teaching about race, sex and gender, according to a May poll by Texas Tech’s faculty senate. 
• The survey found that another quarter of faculty reported being told to alter course content by university administrators or other staff, while 10 instructors said they had courses canceled. Altogether, those surveyed reported that 277 courses were affected.
• Over half of faculty, 52%, reported they are looking for other jobs because of the leadership directives amid widespread concerns that they negatively impact teaching and learning at Texas Tech. The university did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Dive Insight:

The faculty senate conducted its survey — of just under 370 professors — following a series of memos from Texas Tech University System leadership to limit classroom instruction on sex, gender and race. 

Overall, faculty expressed widely negative views of the directives. Most — 79% —  disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement that recent directives had a positive impact on teaching or students at Texas Tech. 

“It is very disheartening and depressing to teach under these conditions,” another faculty member wrote in survey comments, adding that their students were “pissed and think the Chancellor has so disrespected them and their own capacity to think independently, critically, and analytically.” 

Some of those surveyed by the faculty senate welcomed the changes, with one professor describing them as the “decentering of left-wing activism in our educational system.” 

The first memo came in September from then-Texas Tech University System Chancellor Tedd Mitchell, who told faculty to review course materials to ensure they recognize only a male-female gender binary and comply with federal and state law. 

The chancellor’s directive was in line with President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order declaring that the federal government would only recognize two sexes, male and female — a stance that many in the medical and scientific communities opposed. 

Mitchell’s memo quickly garnered fierce backlash from academic freedom advocates. An attorney with Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which has frequently defended conservative speech on campuses, denounced the directive at the time as “obvious censorship that has no place in the United States.” 

In December, the current chancellor, Brandon Creighton, a longtime Texas Republican politician, issued an even more far-reaching directive for the system’s five institutions. 

Creighton told faculty that they “may not promote or otherwise inculcate” a host of beliefs related to race and sex. For example, faculty can’t promote the belief that someone “by virtue of race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, consciously or unconsciously.”

He reiterated that faculty’s teaching must adhere to state and federal policies mandating recognition of a strict male-female gender binary, while also requiring them to submit course materials “related to sexual orientation” for review by the board of regents. 

At the time, the chancellor warned noncompliance could result in disciplinary action against faculty. 

“The strength of any university rests on the caliber, dedication, and integrity of its faculty, and the Texas Tech University System is fortunate to have talented faculty who understand the importance of their work and its lasting impact in shaping the lives and futures of our students,” he wrote in his memo. 

For some at the university, the memos changed little. According to the faculty senate survey, Texas Tech’s engineering college was least affected by the chancellors’ memos, while Texas Tech’s visual and performing arts and education colleges were impacted the most. 

In addition to course changes, many professors altered their research and service activities as well, though they weren’t explicitly ordered to. 

Since Creighton’s December memo, he has announced the system would eliminate all academic programs focused on sexual orientation and gender identity.