They have new policies for their university.
Courses at Texas A&M University System schools that “advocate race or gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity” will only be allowed with pre-approval, following a policy change approved Thursday.
Editorial comment: they will never be pre-approved.
Speaking ahead of the committee vote Thursday, committee chair Sam Torn said a rigorous review of university courses will accompany the policy changes.
Editorial comment: they will enforce rigid ideological beliefs…but will deny that they are being ideological.
“The board agreed it was essential for the Texas A&M University System to refine existing policies and lead the way with an in-depth and repeatable review of our courses so that we can, simply put, make sure we are educating, not advocating, and that we are teaching what we say we are going to teach,” Torn said.
Editorial comment: see what I mean? They haven’t figured out yet that silencing a set of ideas is ideological, too.
The university system’s Civil Rights Protections and Compliance policy also has been revised to state that “No system academic course will advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity, unless the course and the relevant course materials are approved in advance by the member CEO or designee.”
Editorial comment: they will erase race, gender, and sexual orientation from the curriculum, denying that such phenomena even exist.
Many faculty and outsiders are speaking out against this policy.
The new race and gender policy has garnered condemnation from educational rights advocates, including the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which sent a letter to the regents earlier this week arguing the policy amounted to censorship.
“We urge the board to reject these proposals, which invite — indeed, practically guarantee — unconstitutional political interference with faculty teaching and academic freedom,” the letter reads. “Academic freedom requires that faculty, not administrators, determine whether, when, and how to teach material germane to the topic of their courses.”
Before the final vote, FIRE special counsel Robert Shibley told Houston Public Media the policy change would affect a wide swath of curriculum, from civil rights to the Civil War or even classical Greek plays.
“That would subject dozens or potentially hundreds of courses to the veto of high-level administrators,” Shibley said. “So, even if a faculty member just wants to assign one chapter of a book, and it has something to do with race or gender, that means that the college president is going to have to pre-approve that.”
My god, FIRE opposes it? An organization funded by Charles Koch favoring libertarian/conservative causes thinks that maybe Texas has gone too far dislikes the policy? You know it’s bad.
In addition, Texas A&M is going to enable a network of student snitches. It’s going to be so much fun!
As part of the review process, Hallmark said there would be a “24-7 reporting mechanism” for students to report what they consider “inaccurate or misleading course content.”
Shibley, the FIRE special counsel, said the potential creation of such a reporting mechanism could have a “chilling” effect on faculty.
How will the students know if the course content is inaccurate? Because Fox News or TPUSA tells them so?
If you’re from Texas and attending college or planning to attend, get out now. The neighboring states aren’t particularly great, though, may I recommend applying to the University of Minnesota system?
Well it is the Aggies. When I was stationed in San Antonio you could go into the big bookstore in town and find at least half a dozen joke books where the punch line was the Aggies. Of course that was decades ago.
I wonder what happens to something that is required by a board of accreditation?
A&M already fired an English teacher because a student complained that the subject matter “was against her deeply held religious beliefs,” and made a video of the encounter. The course was about “gender themes in children’s literature.” The brouhaha ignited when a Texas State Representative, known as the Cockroach, pestered A&M administration with mean tweets raising a huge cockroach stink. Gov Hot Wheels Abbott got involved, with calls going out to fire EVERYBODY.
The teacher was sacked, the Department heads were re-assigned and the A&M President resigned.
All this because an ignorant, ideological student made a fuss. But, the knives were already out for the English Department, Social Sciences or anything to do with gender studies or SEX, SEX, SEX!
You can Google the details. What you will find is that the people raising the ruckus lied about the professor, lied about the course contents and lied about the course description to provide “grounds” for dismissal.
P.S. Regent Sam Torn is an A&M grad, pushing 80, lawyer and involved in “youth ministries. Totally Old School.
P.P.S. Aggies are the butts of a zillion jokes. Here are two, one PG and one R.
How can you spot the Aggies on an offshore platform? They’re the ones tossing bread to the helicopters.
Aggie girlfriend asked him to kiss her “somewhere hot and stinky.” So, he drove her to Beaumont.
#2: How could a board of accreditation that wasn’t in Texas have any authority over a Texas college or university program? That would make no sense – only Texas has authority over Texas! And, obviously, a Texas board of accreditation is going to approve a program approved of by the State of Texas. Golly, how do people think of these things! Must be a side effect of whatever gender ideology is.</>
There was supposed to be a [rhetorical] tag at the beginning. I didn’t know that < or > would be edited out.
That could work both ways.
In theory, you could report the right wingnuts for teaching the MAGA version of history, politics, or science. Which would include creationism.
I’m sure those reports would immediately end up in the waste basket though.
About all I got out of reading the OP is that Texas has been completely taken over by the fascists.
I would not ever travel there and would never have anything to do with Texas A&M.
This is BTW, a very old movie that we see often.
It’s a witch hunt.
The identity of the witches change often.
These days in Texas it is Wokes, DEIs, immigrants, Drag Queens, children’s books, evolutionary biologists, Californians, New Yorkers, and Democrats.
I’m sure I’m leaving some groups out. I’m also sure I’m on the witch list somewhere.
Concerned students can report objectionable course content to the State of Texas Agency for Safe Ideology (STASI).
O, one might speculate that coursework 🙄 “demonstrating” white genocide might get preäpproved.
Lesson to the liberals and centrists who climbed on the anti-PC bandwagon so long ago: This is what your “allies” on the right wanted all along. In your rush to defend the “right” of racists and misogynists to spew their nonsense in the name of “academic freedom,” you helped make sure that all students learn are the antiquated bigotry of right is all that is taught rather than reality.
Edit: … you helped make sure the antiquated bigotry of the right is all that is taught rather than reality.
Texas and other Bible Belt states are in for a big demographic change.
“The Exact Moment the Bible Belt Started to Die — We Can Prove It”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=n-N4H9gzSx0
I am reminded of the quote “science progresses by funerals”. Without young fools replacing the old ones, the only way is forward.
BTW if you want, I can make a video of Texas governor Greg Abbot doing gross things with Satan
.
South Park calls out the CHAOS of Generative AI…
“Sora not Sorry”
Dang! I had the template done right, but accidentally erased a character. Sorry.
“Texas and other Bible Belt states are in for a big demographic change.
“The Exact Moment the Bible Belt Started to Die — We Can Prove It””
Not at all, Birger. That video claims it happened in 2009 (I scanned the transcript):
It’s not a demographic collapse, even if the conceit held.
It’s cultural and institutional change. It has demographic implications, but its origin is social, not population-based.
(You’re a bit like a magpie; ooo shiny! For anything at all, regardless of value)
@ 15
I cannot be a renaissance man with in-depth knowledge of everything.
As for demographics; yes the younger demographic has shifted for societal reasons.
The older Republican-unto-death demographic will eventually stop voting for Republicans for obvious reasons. Some Charlie Kirk wannabees may turn up in churches and white power groups but they will be a minority.
More about Texas. I know the state is big so I cannot go into granular detail but every good news item counts.
Let’s Talk Elections
“The Texas Race EVERYONE Is Ignoring”
.https://youtube.com/watch?v=ywZ6yK2JoSE
Texas “District 9” – if the conspiracy nuts don’t take that as a sign aliens are backing Democrats, they are being lazy.
Pure clickbait, obviously.
And it’s incoherent; whoever posted that is someone, and they are not ignoring it.
See the ineluctable inference?
Same thing, Birger. To you, the headline is everything. The content is irrelevant.
(Functions rather well as a heuristic)