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The Academic Building at Texas A&M campus in College Station, Texas on Wednesday, June 20, 2018. (Rose Baca\/The Dallas Morning News)<\/p>\n
Rose Baca\/Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
A group of professors filed a federal lawsuit Monday to block the Texas A&M University System from implementing its policies that limit how faculty members can discuss race, gender and sexual orientation <\/a>in the classroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under the policy, Texas A&M professors cannot teach courses that \u201cadvocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity\u201d without prior approval.\u00a0<\/p>\n Four professors and the national American Association of University Professors argue the policies, first introduced in November by the Texas A&M Board of Regents, are unconstitutional and violate their First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n They want a federal judge to order system leaders reinstate any canceled classes and roll back the policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe First Amendment plainly prohibits this egregious attack on academic freedom at a public university,\u201d said Emerson Sykes, senior staff attorney at the ACLU\u2019s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, in a news release. \u201cThis broad policy and the university\u2019s opaque enforcement process makes it impossible to teach or to learn freely and endangers course content about everything from the history of slavery to Shakespeare to the hard sciences.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Representatives from the Texas A&M System did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Monday\u2019s suit is the second major legal challenge brought against a Texas university system over increased restrictions around what can be taught. In July, the national AAUP chapter sued the Texas Tech University System over its policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Related: Faculty groups sue Texas Tech to block restrictions on race, gender teachings<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \nWho is named in the Texas A&M lawsuit?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n The lawsuit names the system\u2019s nine Board of Regents members, who have described the policies as a way to ensure students are learning things that align with their degree and that faculty are \u201ceducating, rather than advocating.\u201d<\/p>\n “Curriculum is created and approved based on the accepted body of knowledge needed for our students to be successful in their chosen profession,” Regent Sam Torn said during a November board meeting. “It is unacceptable for other material to be taught instead.”<\/p>\n The policies apply to the Texas A&M System\u2019s 12 universities, which serve approximately 175,000 students.\u00a0<\/p>\n The policy came after Texas A&M faced months of intense scrutiny after a state lawmaker posted a video on social media of a professor discussing gender identity in her course. The incident, which Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar referred to as “indoctrination,” led to the professor’s firing and President Mark A. Welsh III’s resignation.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \nWhat does the lawsuit allege?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n The suit is being brought by four professors \u2014 Leonard Bright, Vanita Reddy, Landon Sadler and Aaron George \u2014 who have seen their courses altered or canceled because of the policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n The professors argue that the policies censor their free speech and are so vague that it is unclear \u201cwhat faculty may or may not do or say\u201d without risking their jobs.\u00a0<\/p>\n A&M\u2019s policy allows for some faculty in graduate or non-core classes to teach the topics after the university president reviews and approves the course. Professors in those courses have to show that the topics serve a \u201cnecessary educational purpose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n