Academic Freedom Under Revision at Texas A&M: Family Values, Forbidden Fields, and the Closure of Women’s and Gender Studies
by
The Republican Party frequently invokes “family values” and moral order as justification for policies targeting LGBTQ+ communities, trans youth, and gender-related scholarship. Yet public rhetoric often collides with private reality—as seen in widely reported spikes in activity on Grindr—an LGBTQ social networking platform—during Republican National Conventions. According to Keller (2024), the app crashed during the RNC in Milwaukee (also see McFall, 2025).
To be clear, I am not suggesting that Texas Republicans themselves are part of this apparently large group of Grindr users. Sexual orientation exists across all political affiliations. The issue is not who uses a dating app. The issue is that the party apparatus leans into anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric and policy agendas while evidence suggests that sexuality is far more politically diverse and privately complex than its public messaging implies. That contradiction is what deserves scrutiny.
That tension is instructive as Texas A&M eliminates its Women’s and Gender Studies program, ending a field of study that had been part of the university since 1979 (Blinder, 2026; Panigrahi, 2026). Students currently enrolled may finish their degrees, but no new students can enter the program. At the same time, new policies restrict how race, gender, and sexuality can be discussed in classrooms unless explicitly approved by university leadership.
This is not an isolated administrative decision. It reflects a broader pattern across several states where women’s and gender studies, LGBTQ+ studies, and diversity initiatives are being reduced or dismantled under the language of neutrality and oversight. What is framed as restoring balance is, in practice, narrowing inquiry.
The deeper issue is governance. When elected officials condemn LGBTQ+ communities publicly while private behavior reveals a far more complex reality, and when universities respond by limiting academic exploration of gender and sexuality, the message is clear: this is less about morality than about control—including, perhaps, members within their own party where lived realities do not always align neatly with official policy platforms.
Academic freedom does not disappear all at once. It contracts. Programs close. Courses are reviewed. Speech is pre-approved. And gradually, the boundaries of legitimate knowledge are redrawn by political actors rather than scholars.
When one of the nation’s largest public universities eliminates a decades-long academic program focused on gender and power, it signals more than curricular change. It signals a struggle over who decides what can be studied—and ultimately, what kind of democracy we are willing to sustain.
References
Blinder, A. (2026, January 30). Texas A&M ends women’s studies and overhauls classes over race and gender. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/us/texas-am-gender-ethnic-womens-studies-academic-freedom.html
Keller, E. (2024, July 19). Grindr dating app crashes in Milwaukee during RNC: Everything we know, Newsweek. https://www.newsweek.com/grindr-app-crashes-milwaukee-rnc-1927750
McFall, M. R. (2025, Aug. 14) Are gay dating apps threatening to expose republicans? What we know, Newseek. https://www.newsweek.com/gay-lgbtq-dating-app-republicans-supreme-court-marriage-2113522Texas A&M’s Women’s and Gender Studies Closure Signals a Wider Crackdown on Academic Freedom
PUBLISHED 2/24/2026 by Emersen Panigrahi
In many parts of the U.S., students and professors are left navigating a rapidly narrowing space for inquiry and expression
Texas A&M University announced late last month it will eliminate its women’s and gender studies program, effective immediately. At the same time, the university enacted new policies that heavily restrict classroom discussions related to diversity, race and gender, unless a course has been previously approved by the campus president. While students currently enrolled in the women’s and gender studies program will be able to complete their degrees, new students can no longer enroll.
With over 81,000 students, 17 colleges and schools on its main campus, three campuses across the state (plus several satellite locations, including one in Washington, D.C.) and more than 140 undergraduate degrees, Texas A&M is one of the nation’s largest public university systems. It began instruction in 1876 and began offering women’s and gender studies courses in 1979. The elimination of the program marks the abrupt end of a decades-long academic offering—and, coupled with new and dangerous policies regarding race, gender and sexuality, sets a disturbing precedent and furthers a chilling, anti-education agenda.
Timeline: How A&M Dismantled Gender and LGBTQ+ Programs, Step by Step
March 2023 — At West Texas A&M (Texas A&M’s northernmost campus), university president Walter Wendler blocked an on-campus drag show. The student group hosting the show, Spectrum WT, filed a lawsuit in response. The case remained active until recently, when federal judge Matthew Kacsmaryk upheld the university’s decision, ruling the school did not violate the First Amendment.
August 2024 — Texas A&M stopped offering gender-affirming care to their students, forcing those receiving care to seek providers elsewhere.
November 2024 — The university eliminated its LGBTQ+ studies minor, previously housed within the women’s and gender studies program.
February 2025 — Texas A&M’s Board of Regents (all appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott) attempted to ban drag shows across system campuses. This particular ban was temporarily blocked.
September 2025 — A&M’s university president Mark A. Welsh III fired lecturer Dr. Melissa McCoul following a classroom dispute over a lesson on gender identity. McCoul is now suing the university, alleging violations of her free speech and due process rights.
November 2025 — As a result of a unanimous Board of Regents decision, the university reviewed more than 5,400 course syllabi, cut six courses entirely, granted 48 special exceptions, and required hundreds more to be modified.
January 2026 — Texas A&M announced it would eliminate its women’s and gender studies program.
From Florida to Ohio to Texas, the Same Playbook Is Unfolding
Texas A&M is not alone. Across the United States, institutions including New College of Florida, Wichita State University and the University of Toledo have reduced or eliminated women’s and gender studies programs. Hundreds of universities have also scaled back or rebranded diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in response to political pressure and new state laws.
The closure of Texas A&M’s program reflects a broader national trend: mounting restrictions on how gender, race and sexuality can be studied and discussed in public higher education. For students and faculty, these changes reshape not only what can be taught, but what kinds of scholarship and inquiry are permitted on campus. The elimination of a long-standing academic program at one of the country’s largest public universities signals how quickly these shifts can take hold, and how widely they may spread.
Being concerned is no longer enough. It’s time for us to stand up and actively protect these programs.
Students, educators and advocates are increasingly being asked to document and challenge the dismantling of academic programs and protections across the country.
Ms. Classroom wants to hear from educators and students being impacted by legislation attacking public education, higher education, gender, race and sexuality studies, activism and social justice in education, and diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Cue: a new series from Ms., ‘Banned! Voices from the Classroom.’ Submit pitches and/or op-eds and reflections (between 500-800 words) to Ms. contributing editor Aviva Dove-Viebahn at adove-viebahn@msmagazine.com. Posts will be accepted on a rolling basis.
No comments:
Post a Comment