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People’s Hearing hosts faculty & students, and upcoming higher ed hearings to show what’s in store

  • 15 hours ago
  • 2 min read

On August 12, a coalition led by the Texas Legislative Progressive Caucus, Rep. Lulu Flores, and the Latino Coalition for Excellence in Higher Education, held a People's Hearing on Threats to Diversity and Academic Freedom in Higher Education at the Texas Capitol. Witnesses testified on censorship, shrinking academic freedom, and the erosion of shared governance following Senate Bill (SB) 17 (88th session) and SB 37 (89th). 

Among the member leaders who testified, American Association of University Professors (AAUP) past president Dr. Brian Evans detailed how automated syllabus reviews and vague institutional policy have led to extreme censorship—banning texts from foundational philosophers like Plato and restricting race-related material in landmark Supreme Court cases—that is driving faculty away from our state. He warned that continued censorship threatens Texas's ability to recruit and retain talent. 

Dr. Lisa Moore, former Chair of UT Austin's now-closed Department of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies, spoke to the chilling effect of self-censorship even where no law explicitly bans a topic. She described faculty dropping courses or withdrawing content on race, gender, and health disparities out of fear of harassment or retaliation and urged legislators to repeal SB 17 and SB 37. 

The House Higher Education Committee will hold two interim hearings next week. Over the span of two days, the committee will consider interim higher education charges and discuss their priorities for the upcoming legislative session.  

Monday, August 17th will consider the following:  

  • The State of Higher Education 

  • Monitoring Bill Implementation 

  • Aligning Advising Initiatives 

Tuesday, August 18th will consider the following: 

  • Postsecondary Education Affordability 

  • Increasing Credential Completion 

  • Foreign Adversary Protections in Higher Education 

  • Research Competitiveness  

Your voice is important. Whether you can make it to the hearings next week or not, please consider submitting online comments on Research Competitiveness. We want members like you to highlight the groundbreaking research you lead. Please refer to this toolkit on submitting online testimony. 

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