Texas A&M University is ending its women’s and gender studies degree program as part of a new policy that limits how professors can discuss some race and gender topics.
University officials announced the policy Friday, which has resulted in six cancelled classes, changed syllabi and a terminated professor. The changes have sparked outrage through student protests.
The policy was approved in November by the university’s regents — all of which were appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
Students already enrolled will be allowed to complete their programs over the next six semesters, but no new students will be accepted.
In a press release, the university backed their decision to end the women’s and gender studies degree program by citing low student interest and enrollment.
The program was offered as a bachelor of arts degree, a bachelor of science degree, an undergraduate minor and a graduate degree. According to the Texas Tribune, the program currently has 25 students pursuing a major and 31 pursuing a minor.
In the months leading up to the removal of the program, Texas A&M English Professor Melissa McCoul was terminated for failing to align with the submitted and approved course description related to gender identity.
In a statement to The New York Times, interim President Tommy Williams said, “the difficulty of bringing the program in compliance with the new system policies” also contributed to the decision.
According to university officials, the policy allowed the university to determine the “necessity” of courses by looking at syllabi course descriptions. This mass review urged many professors to alter or entirely remove topics from their course syllabi.
The university abolished its LGBTQ studies minor in 2024 due to similar low enrollment concerns, just two years after the women and gender studies department introduced the program.
Diana Blaine, a USC professor of gender and sexuality studies, said she believes that the current administration has encouraged increased attacks on gender studies in higher education.
“It is part of this larger attempt to erase any inquiry into the nature of the way that society is structured through gender,” she said.
Blaine has taught approximately 10 courses to USC’s gender and sexuality program since 2017.
“I’m very happy to say I’ve not had any of my courses examined, controlled or canceled,” she said.
She mentioned that USC’s refusal of the Trump Administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, which demanded crackdowns on gender inclusive language and policies, “provided great relief” to students in gender and sexuality studies.
Blaine emphasized that open access to information and alternative perspectives is crucial at universities, which she described as “free thinking zones”.
According to Blaine, gender studies provide valuable humanistic perspectives for various disciplines.
“There’s nothing that doesn’t touch on gender, and that’s why the students who take, for example, my feminist theory course, say this should be a required course for the university,” she said. “I have heard that hundreds of times in the last 25 years.”
Robert Day, a civil engineering major at Texas A&M University, noted that the removal of this program and termination of Professor McCoul goes against the university’s principles.
“When I heard that Professor McCool was fired, it deeply upset me, because it goes against everything that A&M stands for. A&M should support academic freedom, and do everything in its power to prevent political pressures from influencing course curriculum,” he said.
Day also mentioned his high school experience at Houston Independent School District where education was politicized, leading to the banning of books with gender identity questions.
“I’ve witnessed faculty and superintendents remove libraries and instead invoke detention centers,” he said. “I came to college, and I was like ‘okay, I’m in college now’, I can learn whatever I want. Never did I think that belief in the idea of academic freedom is controversial.”
“This isn’t a political issue, this is a fundamental moral issue,” Day continued. “I believe that academic freedom is the great equalizer.”