This week, our Texas AAUP-AFT members testified as invited witnesses at a “People’s Hearing” of the Texas House Democratic Caucus (HDC) Interim Special Committee on Free Speech. This comes almost a month after the Legislature’s new Joint Committee on Civil Discourse & Freedom of Speech in Higher Ed held its first hearing, which, ironically, was closed to public testimony. The HDC’s hearing gave a platform to faculty, students, and community organizations to speak on the tumultuous months of higher education censorship. Below are the testimonies provided by Texas AAUP-AFT leaders.
Dr. Leonard Bright, TAMU AAUP Chapter President
“President Mark Welsh once defended academic freedom, yet this Fall he fired Professor Melissa McCoul for a standard lesson on gender identity – and was then pushed out himself for not firing her fast enough. Now professors at Texas A&M must seek presidential approval to teach or even answer questions about race, gender, or sexuality, under threat of discipline or dismissal. When a university controls what its faculty can say, it diminishes a student’s education. For nearly half a century, our court system has recognized that the university classroom is where democracy itself is shaped. I believe the State of Texas and Texas A&M are on a brazen mission to challenge this precedent for all of America. If they succeed, this will be the kill shot for academic freedom and possibly even cripple democracy itself.”
Dr. Karma Chávez, AAUP Chapter at UT Austin President
“Public confidence in higher education has been eroding since 2015, as billionaire-backed think tanks attack universities and promote a return to an ‘academic social contract’ rooted in the Jim Crow era. These same think tanks promote ‘meritocracy’ over DEI, yet this year, UT Austin’s president and provost were hired without merit-based consultation in a normal hiring process involving the input of faculty, staff, and students. Higher education in the state of Texas faces a grave crossroads wherein academic freedom and free speech are under severe threat. This is not because of professors. This is because wealthy ideologues have taken over higher education. They’ve bought our elected officials who have in turn appointed only those willing to do their bidding. Texas students deserve better.”
Prof. Andrew Martin, Texas Tech University AAUP Chapter President
“Politicians and billionaires are claiming to be more ‘trusted’ than those of us who teach in colleges and universities. Faculty know something about trust. Our careers are built on decades of study to earn terminal degrees. To do that, we have to publish, exhibit, or perform scholarly, scientific, and creative work, and prove that we have the ability to contribute meaningfully to our fields. If we are lucky, we can then compete with hundreds of candidates to secure entry-level teaching positions at quality colleges and universities. Then we have six years of probation while we learn to balance teaching, research, and service demands, while still competing every year to put our work out to peer review. That’s the foundation upon which the trust in faculty – from each other, from students, from the public – is built. What’s the trust in politicians built on?”