June 2, 2025
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Brian L. Evans, President of the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), affiliated with the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), aaup.texas@gmail.com, 512-516-5991
With the passage of Senate Bill 37, faculty warn of the impending “brain drain” of students, researchers, and faculty from Texas higher education institutions.
Austin, Texas – On Saturday, just 48 hours before the scheduled end of the 89th legislative session, the Texas Legislature gave its final approval to Senate Bill 37, an unprecedented Big Government intrusion into the freedom to learn, teach, and research at the state’s public colleges, universities, and health institutions.
SB 37, the first law of its kind in the nation, serves as a state overreach into higher education:
- Censorship over education: SB 37 imposes political control over the core curriculum, majors, minors, and certificates, limiting professors’ ability to teach analytical thinking, a broad range of topics, and current scholarship that prepares students for careers and civic life — undermining workforce readiness.
- Threat to research and innovation: By making Texas institutions much less attractive to faculty and graduate students, SB 37 endangers Texas leadership in research, innovation, and economic competitiveness, potentially leading to a loss of billions of dollars in research grants.
- Risks to public health: SB 37 gives political appointees — not medical experts — control over medical education and patient care, jeopardizing billions in annual research funding and the health care millions of Texans rely on.
The bill, which is now headed to the governor’s desk, also severely limits the role of faculty in decision-making at colleges and universities. depriving institutions of the expertise and experience that faculty bring to discussions. It also establishes a new “Office of the Ombudsman,” appointed by the governor. This office will have the power to conduct civil investigations on complaints of noncompliance with SB 37 or the Legislature’s other attack on university autonomy, SB 17, the ban on so-called diversity, equity, and inclusion programs from the 2023 legislative session. There is little provision for due process, making this office ripe for abuse.
Even with minor changes made in the conference committee over the weekend, SB 37 remains the most wide-reaching threat to academic freedom and collaborative governance in higher education that the Legislature has yet undertaken. It will worsen an already dire situation for faculty and students wondering whether it is tenable to remain at Texas colleges and universities.
Among Texas AAUP-AFT membership alone, more than 40 faculty members have reported they’ve left Texas because of legislative attacks. More are sure to follow – and along with them, their grant funding, their expertise, and their national recognition.
“This bill imperils the foundations of our higher education system and threatens Texas’s ability to recruit and retain faculty at the head of their fields, as well as students driven to learn and engage critically with complex subjects. One positive thing came out of this weekend’s negotiations: the removal of language so limiting that it would have prevented accurate, honest discussions of controversial topics. Texas AAUP-AFT members advocated strongly for that amendment and won it in bipartisan fashion, mitigating some harm,” said Dr. Brian Evans, president of the Texas AAUP Conference. “Even with that small victory, SB 37 will put what we teach in the hands of political appointees rather than in the hands of faculty who have studied these subjects and understand their nuances. The passage of SB 37 is a dark day for Texas colleges and universities, with many more to come. What we are focused on now is documenting the impact of this reckless state experiment and working together to reduce further harm for our students and our profession.”
“In the same session that they forced through a private school voucher program to undermine this state’s K-12 schools, Texas lawmakers chose to double-down on their attacks against our colleges and universities,” said Zeph Capo, president of Texas AFT. “Hundreds of faculty and students testified to the expected catastrophic impacts of this legislation, from the exodus of top teaching talent to the waning of Texas higher educational institutions’ prestige. They can’t say they weren’t warned, and they shouldn’t be surprised by the brain drain to come between now and when they return to Austin in 2027. This isn’t something you can tweak in the interim or fix in rulemaking. There are families today, right now, who are making choices about where their children will attend college. And they are looking at Texas and wondering whether their students will be safe or supported or taught the critical-thinking skills they need to succeed. That is damage that will take years to undo.”
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