"State-Sanctioned Censorship in Higher Education: Texas LULAC’s Rejection of SB 37," by Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

Friends,

I wear many hats. One is head of the Education Committee Chair for the Texas League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). It is the oldest and largest Latina/o/x civil rights organization in our state's history.

Currently, Texas has at least over 130 active LULAC councils, making it the largest state-level contingent of what today is also a national organization that boasts LULAC chapters in 25 states, including on the Island of Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. 

These councils span urban centers, rural communities, and college campuses, offering a grassroots network of advocacy, service, and policy engagement. LULAC is very strong at the grassroots level, where it mobilizes communities, cultivates local leadership, and responds directly to the everyday needs and injustices faced by Latino families across the country.

I have held this position before and consider it a deep honor, and great privilege and responsibility to represent the state of Texas on matters pertaining to education. I look forward to presenting on our work this session at our state convention in New Braunfels from June 19- 21st. I thank State Director Gabriel Rosales for this opportunity to serve.

On the Education Committee are Alicia Perez-Hodge and Dr. Emilio Zamora. We are a small, yet mighty team.

The legislators only gave us two minutes to speak, and that's why the testimony I share below is so brief. I heard the legislators "listened," so we'll see what happens. Glad to be in partnership with so many other organizations on this horrific bill.

-Angela

State-Sanctioned Censorship in Higher Education: Texas LULAC’s Rejection of SB 37

by

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

Angela Valenzuela and Alicia Perez Hodgetestifying on
May 6, 2025 on behalf of Texas LULAC

My name is Angela Valenzuela, and I am a member of the faculty at UT Austin, but I speak today as Education Committee Chair for Texas LULAC. LULAC is the largest and oldest Latina/o civil rights organization in Texas and the nation. Texas LULAC stands in firm opposition to all forms of Senate Bill 37, a deeply troubling piece of legislation that undermines academic freedom, faculty governance, and the educational rights of Texas students.

This bill places unprecedented power in the hands of political appointees, stripping faculty, the content experts, of their rightful role in shaping curriculum. Instead, it installs ideologically driven oversight committees to dictate what students can learn, censoring instruction on race, ethnicity, sex, politics, and religion.

SB 37 is not about educational excellence—it is about control. It opens the door to state-sanctioned censorship, silencing faculty voices and diminishing the intellectual rigor of Texas’s public universities. 

By removing faculty oversight from curriculum development and centralizing it under gubernatorial and legislative control, this bill dismantles the very foundation of shared governance that protects the integrity of higher education.

Further, this legislation threatens to narrow the core curriculum by “streamlining” courses through partisan committees. This endangers students’ exposure to diverse ideas and perspectives that are essential to critical thinking, civic responsibility, and workforce readiness in a global society.

Texas cannot afford to become a state where politics trumps pedagogy. 

Senate Bill 37 violates the principles of academic freedom, threatens institutional accreditation, and targets honest discussions of our nation’s complex histories and identities. Texas LULAC urges this committee to reject SB 37 in defense of educational integrity, student rights, and our shared democratic values.