UT is meant to be a place to research, explore, discuss and learn, as it fosters the growth of thousands of students. These purposes are shaped by access, considering the pursuit of higher education requires an uncensored experience.
In the face of Senate Bill 17 and other legislation limiting students’ and professors’ educational pursuits, the University has failed to maintain academic freedom and clearly define their support for faculty. Confirming faculty’s concerns about UT’s priorities, the University has furthered its lack of support for the community by not acknowledging or offering support in the face of the recent professor firings at Texas A&M and Texas State.
Pauline Strong, an anthropology professor and president of the American Association of University Professors chapter at UT, said the reason given for the recent A&M faculty firing, that she was speaking on a topic not in the official course description, is not convincing, because official course descriptions are traditionally broad, all-encompassing topics based on the professors’ expertise.
“What happened at Texas A&M is, in my view, a violation of the faculty members’ academic freedom,” Strong said. “That’s a real concern if that kind of censorship becomes widespread, especially for faculty who teach (on) issues including gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity. … Our students deserve exposure to a broad range of perspectives, not only those that our political officials think are appropriate for students.”
These conflicts highlight the unstable nature of the Texas higher education system, political influence over our education and continuously depleting academic freedom. Stuart Reichler, an associate professor of practice in the College of Natural Sciences, discusses political influence and its impact on academic freedoms at UT.
Institutions seem to be happy to go along with imposing political viewpoints into the academic institution,” Reichler said. “I have seen nothing at UT that indicates our institution would not do the same. UT has not said anything … that says academic freedom is number one, freedom of speech is important and we will defend your right to teach and talk about the things that you think are important.”
Political influence in the academic world is not a new topic. In fact, in 2013, a conflict arose between former UT President Bill Powers and Gov. Rick Perry concerning political overreach into higher education. Powers rejected the governor’s attempts to heavily influence the academic world by resisting Perry’s “Seven Breakthrough Solutions” — which aimed to run UT like a business by cutting “useless” research, tying professors’ performances to student evaluations and favoring lucrative, grant-heavy departments. President Jim Davis should follow suit to support professors and his students’ education.
The Office of the Dean of Students was not available for comment.
“Academic freedom means the freedom to teach and conduct research, including on controversial topics, without censorship,” Strong said. “When government officials attempt to censor faculties, topics taught in the classroom or topics faculty address as private citizens outside the University, that is political censorship. I think it’s a direct attack on academic freedom and free speech, both of (which) are fundamental to the ability of a faculty member to function as intended. It’s a real threat to the ability of institutions of higher education to serve our students.”
As of 2024, the UT System has been labelled as institutionally neutral, unable to comment on political issues. Institutional neutrality is meant to serve as a means to reduce political discourse on campus and create a safe space to pursue academic aspirations.
However, in the case of the recent professor firings, institutional neutrality creates a loophole for ignorance as these firings have been a focus in political discourse. This conundrum leaves very few actionable options, as even a press release or university statement goes against their neutrality.
While the UT administration is unable to speak about the recent firings and political discourse, the recent firings at A&M and Texas State are anything but apolitical.
“It seems that in both instances, the universities have helped and abetted people who have a political viewpoint. This is not a politically neutral position that people are coming from where they’re trying to get people fired for things that they say,” said Reichler.
A professor being immediately let go due to a topic taught in class goes against due process and emphasizes the gaps in information provided to professors, contributing to the fear in academic settings. The bare minimum that UT could do in the face of these recent firings, which have left many to doubt their standing on academic freedom and freedom of speech, would be to clarify the guidelines and procedures to support professors in this time of uncertainty.
Rail is an English, anthropology and rhetoric and writing senior from El Paso, Texas.
