Students across 11 universities within the Texas A&M University System will experience a reduction in the number of classes related to LGBTQ literature, climate change, and women writers that fulfill graduation requirements. This change is part of a proposal to eliminate over 200 courses from general education lists.
The system’s regents made this decision on Thursday following a review initiated by a new state law mandating public university boards to assess the general education classes that undergraduates must complete, irrespective of their major.
According to Senate Bill 37, regents are tasked with ensuring that these courses are both foundational and essential to a college education, equipping students for civic engagement and the job market. The law also directs public university governing bodies to consider the financial implications, including tuition, fees, and time commitments, associated with these requirements.
Regent Sam Torn remarked on the universities’ efforts to streamline their course listings, acknowledging that many had become overly extensive. He emphasized that there remains significant work ahead to fully prepare students for contemporary societal challenges.
The agenda for the meeting included 360 courses labeled for removal from general education lists, although some courses were repeated due to being categorized under various departments or general education categories.
Texas A&M University in College Station will see the highest number of courses removed, totaling 103, followed by Texas A&M-San Antonio with 76, Tarleton State University with 48, and both West Texas A&M and Texas A&M University-Texarkana with 21. The remaining six universities have between 13 and 18 courses listed for removal.
Among the courses slated for removal at the flagship university are introductions to women’s and gender studies, LGBTQ literatures, Latinx literature studies, women writers, race and ethnicity, gender and health, Blacks in the United States, Bible as literature, and climate change.
Leonard Bright, president of the Texas A&M-College Station chapter of the American Association of University Professors, criticized the course review as an overextension of SB 37. He asserted that the choice of courses for removal indicates a shift towards conservative influences.
“This is a political decision,” Bright stated. “It suggests that the global perspective that was once valued is no longer a priority. … They are effectively going to sanitize our programs.”
Bright expressed concern regarding whether students would be adequately prepared without these courses, which he believes are crucial for understanding the complexities of the world.
In response, Texas A&M System spokesman Chris Bryan explained that each university conducted its own thorough review of courses. However, he did not specify who was responsible for these assessments at each campus or the rationale behind the removal of specific courses.
Bryan clarified that the reviews only determined which courses would count toward the core curriculum and did not assess the appropriateness of any subject matter for study or the availability of courses.
He noted that universities are still permitted to offer the courses outside of the core curriculum.
“Each institution’s core curriculum varies according to its mission and academic offerings, but all were evaluated against the same standards set forth in state law and system policy,” he added.
The ongoing review, which must occur at least every five years, is timed ahead of a January 1 deadline.
Other universities within the system have also proposed eliminations of courses related to women’s studies and literature from diverse authors. For instance, Prairie View A&M, a historically Black university, has included courses on Mexican-American culture and minority sociology on its removal list, while East Texas A&M is considering dropping a course on diversity.
Notably, Texas A&M-Central Texas has no courses slated for removal, as it primarily serves transfer students who typically complete lower-level core requirements at community colleges or other institutions.
The agenda also included 27 entries marked for addition across seven universities. These additions encompass courses such as human nutrition at Texas A&M in College Station, precalculus at Prairie View A&M, and environmental sustainability at Texas A&M-Kingsville.
This core curriculum review is separate from a policy adopted by A&M regents last fall in response to conservative backlash over a lesson addressing gender identity. This policy prohibits any academic course from promoting “race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity,” allowing exceptions only for specific non-core or graduate courses with prior written approval.
The regents have defined gender ideology as prioritizing self-identified gender over biological sex, while race ideology is characterized as assigning guilt or oppression based on race or ethnicity.
The American Association of University Professors, along with four A&M System professors, including Bright, filed a lawsuit against the system on August 3 in an effort to challenge this policy, citing violations of First Amendment rights. A ruling from the court is still pending.
Texas A&M is not an outlier in reassessing its core offerings under SB 37; however, institutions are adopting varied strategies. At the University of Houston, regents reduced the core-course offerings from 241 to 144, which included the removal of introductory courses on global climate change and LGBTQ studies. Similarly, the University of Texas is deliberating cuts to over 100 core courses as part of a broader curriculum overhaul, with several courses being similarly targeted as those at A&M.
This review follows a proposal by UT-Austin President Jim Davis to replace the existing core curriculum with a model requiring students to complete a course in each of 12 specified subject areas, including Western civilization, American politics, world politics and cultures, science, computer science, artificial intelligence, and “Great Questions of Human Life.”
