issued a memo<\/a>\u00a0that prohibited future graduate student theses, dissertations and other degree-culminating research or projects from centering on sexual orientation or gender identity. Current students can continue that work temporarily, according to his memo.<\/p>\nSheridan, who did not respond to a request for comment, then sent an email to department chairs and other academic leaders, instructing them not to post or distribute Creighton\u2019s memo. Instead, he wrote communication with prospective and newly admitted graduate students \u201cmust be targeted,\u201d according to a copy of the email shared with The Texas Tribune<\/p>\n
Sheridan instructed them to ask those students about their research or creative interests using specific messaging.<\/p>\n
The form letters detail how work centered on sexual orientation or gender identity is prohibited at Texas Tech.<\/p>\n
Students are urged to discuss their proposed interests \u201cas soon as possible\u201d with their designated faculty contact.<\/p>\n
Students committed to such studies are told that they \u201cmay want to explore programs elsewhere that can better support your interests and goals,\u201d according to the messaging.<\/p>\n
Hirth said the university\u2019s intent is to ensure students are well-informed and can make decisions that align with their educational and professional goals.<\/p>\n
\u201cAcademic advising conversations are individualized and routinely address program requirements, available faculty mentorship and any constraints that may affect a student\u2019s proposed course of study,\u201d Hirth said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Destiny Dunn is graduating this semester with a master\u2019s degree from Texas Tech\u2019s School of Theatre and Dance. She chose the university because its program combined theatre performance with teaching.<\/p>\n
Had the restrictions been in place when she was seeking a program, Dunn said, she would not have enrolled.<\/p>\n
When Dunn applied in 2023, she did not know what her final project would be. She knew only that students had an option to research, write and perform a one-person play. Those often draw from students\u2019 lives and experiences, she said.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Texas Tech should make clear in offer letters and across department websites what prospective graduate students can and cannot research before they enroll, said Stacy Hartman, a program officer for higher education initiatives at the American Council of Learned Societies.<\/p>\n
Hartman said she is concerned that only some students are being told about the restrictions when those limits could affect anyone doing research in the humanities and social sciences. It is not reasonable to expect prospective students to know before enrolling whether their eventual work will touch on sexual orientation or gender identity, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood research is a process of asking a series of questions, and sometimes that series of questions takes you to a place that you don\u2019t expect,\u201d Hartman said.<\/p>\n
Graduate students cannot switch schools as easily as undergraduates, she said. Their progress is often tied to a specific adviser, department, funding package and thesis or dissertation topic.<\/p>\n
Students who learn too late that their research is barred could have few good options, she said.<\/p>\n
They may have to apply to a program at another school and risk losing credits, especially if they are already two or three years into a degree. Or they may have to stay and pick a different topic. A dissertation must sustain years of work and may become the foundation for a scholar\u2019s first book, so changing topics could delay graduation.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like just picking a different topic for a term paper,\u201d Hartman said.<\/p>\n
Paula Krebs, executive director of the Modern Language Association, said in a statement that limits on graduate research and classroom discussion are \u201cvery unusual.\u201d It would be unfair for any graduate program to admit students \u201cunder false pretenses,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Creighton\u2019s memo went beyond graduate research.<\/p>\n
It directed the system\u2019s universities to identify academic programs centered on sexual orientation and gender identity by June 15, then freeze admissions to those programs and phase them out.<\/p>\n
Texas Tech officials are committed to supporting strong academics and scholarship in various disciplines, wrote Hirth in her statement, but as a public institution, \u201cthe university is also required to comply with state law and related guidance that affect certain areas of instruction and research.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before he became the chancellor, Creighton was a Republican state senator who authored Texas\u2019 2023 ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programs in higher education. That law carved out academic course instruction, scholarly research and creative work from its restrictions. Texas Tech officials have cited broader state and federal guidance related to gender identity as part of the legal landscape they must navigate.<\/p>\n
Texas Tech has a women\u2019s and gender studies undergraduate minor and graduate certificate and a conference related to those studies each spring. This year\u2019s conference went on as scheduled April 23, although the program was more sparse and Provost Ron Hendrick\u2019s remarks, recorded by faculty members who attended and shared with the Tribune, were more somber.<\/p>\n
In the recording, Hendrick thanked attendees and praised the conference for bringing \u201cpeople together across disciplines and across perspectives\u201d in ways that \u201creflected the very best of Texas Tech University.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to acknowledge, though, that this year is different,\u201d Hendrick said. \u201cThe work as we\u2019ve known it won\u2019t be the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
Student organizers are using Creighton\u2019s memo to draw people to Thursday\u2019s regents meeting in Lubbock. Students Engaged in Advancing Texas and\u00a0Raiders Against Censorship<\/a>\u00a0plan to stage a mock funeral for academic freedom, which is the ability of scholars to teach and research freely.<\/p>\nDunn\u2019s one-person play focused on water disparities in her hometown of Flint, Michigan. But two of the eight students in her cohort changed the subjects of their plays amid uncertainty over Texas Tech\u2019s evolving restrictions, she said.<\/p>\n
Although Dunn did not have to change her own project, she said she had nightmares about being recorded and reported by students while teaching a theater appreciation class this semester.<\/p>\n
Conservative activist groups have published undercover recordings of college and university employees across the state discussing how they have responded to Texas\u2019 DEI ban.<\/p>\n
Dunn said it was difficult to discuss theater history without touching on gender and censorship and drawing parallels to what is happening at Texas Tech and nationally.<\/p>\n
Asked whether she would have chosen Texas Tech if the restrictions had been in place and clearly communicated when she applied, Dunn said no.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn no way would I have done that because it\u2019s been psychologically damaging,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Josh Lile is finishing his first year in a doctoral program in Texas Tech\u2019s College of Education. The restrictions may not directly affect him since he is already enrolled, but they have made him question whether to continue.<\/p>\n
Lile chose Texas Tech because he could pursue his PhD online while raising his children and teaching high school math in San Antonio. He said he has already paid between $6,000 and $7,000 out of pocket and would lose that money if he left.<\/p>\n
When he applied, Lile knew he wanted to study teacher development, but he did not have a fully formed dissertation topic.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you come in, you don\u2019t have a dissertation ready to go or anything,\u201d Lile said. \u201cYou don\u2019t have the idea fully fleshed out.\u201d<\/p>\n
If Texas Tech\u2019s goal is transparency, prospective students should be told about the restrictions before they commit, Lile said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t you?\u201d he said. \u201cIf you\u2019re this proud of this, then own it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t