Students, Faculty, Alumni and Locals, Rally at TAMU in Support of Academic Freedom

Last September, Texas A&M made national headlines when a student’s video of their interactions with her children’s literature professor, went viral. The student of Professor McCoul’s ENGL 360: Literature for Children class is seen in the video raising her hand during a discussion on a character in children’s literature that struggles with their gender identity and asking if the discussion of these topics is legal. Professor McCoul has a brief back and forth with the student, before the student is asked to leave the class. The course curriculum has been changed, and McCoul is no longer employed at TAMU, despite the Faculty Senate's Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure finding that her firing was without cause.

On Thursday, November 13, 2025, Texas A&M University System regents unanimously voted to approve a new policy that will require each campus president to sign off on any course that could be seen as advocating for “race and gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The policy defines race ideology as “attempts to shame a particular race or ethnicity” or anything that “promotes activism on issues related to race or ethnicity rather than academic instruction. Gender ideology is defined as “a concept of self-assessed gender identity replacing, and disconnected from, the biological category of sex.” 

Texas A&M then underwent a full review of curriculum and syllabi of over 5,000 courses throughout the entire campus. The review examined approximately 5,400 course syllabi to ensure full compliance with System policy requirements.

A total of six courses were canceled, including: one in the Bush School of Government and Public Service; two in the College of Arts and Sciences; two in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and one in the College of Education and Human Development. 

Many more courses were required to change course materials to comply with the new policies. Over 200 courses were required to remove materials, or change readings to fit the policy, including the removal of two pieces by Plato in Philosophy 111, a bachelor level class on contemporary moral issues.

Several protests have happened on campus in the past few weeks, with the largest showing being on January 29, 2026, as over 300 students, alumni, faculty and locals came out to support academic freedom. Several organizations came together to speak up against these new policies and what they feel is academic censorship. Dr. Leonard Bright said, “This fight is bigger than Texas A&M—it is about whether public universities will serve democracy or fear it. We will fight for our democratic right to learn and teach freely in the face of government censorship.”

Martin Peterson said, “No one can reasonably say that a Philosophy professor shouldn’t get to teach Plato in a philosophy class.” 

After the January 29 protest, the TAMU Board of Regents announced that they would completely end their women’s and gender studies altogether and that their review of classes was complete. The many groups that came together intend to continue voicing their commitment to academic freedom, and more protests are planned for the near future.