A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit brought against Texas A&M University by UT professor Richard Lowery claiming the University used unlawful and discriminatory hiring practices in implementing a faculty fellowship program. 

In the lawsuit, Lowery, a white finance professor, claimed Texas A&M University’s Accountability, Climate, Equity and Scholarship Faculty Fellows program, known as ACES Plus, discriminated against white and Asian men. According to court documents, the program intended to make Texas A&M’s faculty more reflective of the Texas population. 

In his decision, U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge said the passage of Senate Bill 17 in Texas, which prohibits the consideration of anything beyond merit in university faculty hiring, renders Lowery’s claim unfit for judicial relief. 

“(Texas A&M) has submitted a memorandum from an ethics and compliance officer indicating that Texas A&M has already begun its efforts to comply with SB 17, with the goal of achieving full compliance by September 1, 2023, even though the fully effective date is the end of the year,” Eskridge said in the decision. “In the present context, then, the relief that Lowery seeks as to past practices is moot, and the relief that he seeks prospectively isn’t ripe.” 

Eskridge also wrote that prior to the passage of SB 17, Lowery still lacked standing in the case because he never applied for a position at Texas A&M, meaning there was no concrete injury to redress. 

“Lowery can’t simply assume the conclusion — that ongoing discrimination exists and is injuring him — without substantially rewriting Article III standing for employment-discrimination claims,” Eskridge said in the decision. “Otherwise, any putative plaintiff could sue a potential employer without ever applying, simply upon allegation the posited discriminatory practices deterred application.”

According to The Texas Tribune, Texas A&M’s ACES Plus program is on pause and will be phased out in the 2024-25 academic year.