Students and alumni on Friday protested plans to consolidate race and gender studies programs at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and vowed to take their concerns to the UT System Board of Regents in May.
Valentina Rivas Labarca, a UTSA sophomore studying political science, said the move is part of a statewide “domino effect” that could lead to elimination of ethnic and women’s studies.
People listen as Adrian Lara speaks during a protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, March 27, 2026. Students and other attendees protested the planned consolidation of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Darius Lemelle leads a chant during a protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, March 27, 2026. Students and other attendees protested the planned consolidation of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Reflected in a window, protestors carry signs and chant during a protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, March 27, 2026. Students and other attendees protested the planned consolidation of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
“At UTSA, we are very upset that this is happening to us personally. But we want what is happening to end here,” Labarca said during a protest on the university’s main campus. “It’s not only going to erase our stories, but it’s going to erase the stories of every single person that helped build this country, that helped build this state.”
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She urged about 30 students attending the rally and others watching virtually to advocate for race and gender studies in Austin, where regents are expected to discuss the issue when they meet May 20-21.
“It is our only opportunity as students to ensure that the board of regents knows that we are all upset,” said Labarca, engagement associate with the advocacy group Students Engaged in Advancing Texas.
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The university is merging its Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies (REGSS). The changes follow similar restructuring at other public universities in Texas and have generated concerns about loss of faculty and staff positions, and the potential elimination of entire programs.
The College of Education and Human Development has said the two departments will be consolidated into a single department, starting Sept. 1, with input from a task force of students and faculty and staff members.
No changes were planned for faculty or staff positions, reporting structures or job responsibilities, the college announced in a January email that described the reforms as strategic and “an exciting opportunity” for a “more prosperous future” for UTSA.
But student protestors said the REGSS department will lose autonomy to the bicultural studies department. They described it as a potential first step toward elimination of programs in Mexican American Studies, African American Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, which have been under scrutiny by conservative state leaders.
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Valentina Rivas Labarca shouts during a protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, March 27, 2026. Students protested the planned consolidation of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
People listen as Darius Lemelle speaks during a protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, March 27, 2026. Students and other attendees protested the planned consolidation of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
Kiauna Dunbar holds signs while listening to speakers during a protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, March 27, 2026. Students and other attendees protested the planned consolidation of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News
“Our voices deserve to be heard,” said Kiauna Dunbar, a May 2025 UTSA graduate who majored in African American Studies.
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“Our ancestors fought the same battles that we are fighting decades and decades later,” she said. “These programs tell the history that would otherwise be erased, untold. You cannot erase us.”
UTSA freshman Adrian Lara said the race and gender program have been tagged by the university as low-enrollment and under-performing. But he said university officials have “never been fully supported” the program with funding or academic recruitment efforts.
“For me, Mexican American Studies is more than just a major. It is the very fabric of my existence,” Lara said. “It was the first time I saw my community treated as something worthy of study, not something to be overlooked or reduced.”
In a statement, UTSA said the consolidation “follows a review by the college focused on alignment and long-term program strength.”
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“Universities routinely review the structure of their academic units to ensure they effectively and sustainably support students, faculty, and academic programs,” the university said. “Academic programs, courses, and degree pathways will continue to be based on student interest and the university’s ability to deliver them effectively. Such evaluations are standard practice and reflect our efforts to ensure programs remain innovative, rigorous, and responsive to evolving academic and workforce needs.”
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A 2023 state law prohibited public universities from establishing or maintaining diversity, equity and inclusion offices, and limited certain DEI-related activities and training programs. University systems have since launched audits of courses that teach subjects related to race and gender.
UT Austin’s College of Liberal Arts plans to consolidate several ethnic and gender studies departments, and Texas A&M University began phasing out its Women’s and Gender Studies degree program earlier this year. The Texas Tech University System now prohibits faculty from discussing transgender or non-binary identities in the classroom.
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UTSA’s Bicultural-Bilingual Studies offers graduate degrees, including a Master of Arts in Bicultural-Bilingual Education and a doctoral degree in Culture, Literacy and Language. Formed in 2020, the Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies houses three undergraduate majors: African American Studies, Mexican American Studies and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Labarca said the ethnic and gender studies programs have about 30 students and have never been adequately promoted.
“Although we don’t believe that we can stop the consolidation of the programs, we believe we can stop getting rid of them,” she said.
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Darius Lemelle leads a chant during a protest at the University of Texas at San Antonio on Friday, March 27, 2026. Students and other attendees protested the planned consolidation of the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies and Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies.
Katina Zentz/San Antonio Express-News