Faculty Groups Sue Texas Tech Over 2 Memos Restricting Race and Gender Teaching
Updated
Updated · The Texas Tribune · Jul 8
Faculty Groups Sue Texas Tech Over 2 Memos Restricting Race and Gender Teaching
3 articles · Updated · The Texas Tribune · Jul 8
Summary
Two faculty organizations sued Texas Tech Chancellor Brandon Creighton and the regents, asking a federal judge to block systemwide classroom limits they say already forced professors to certify compliance for summer and fall courses.
The complaint targets Creighton’s Dec. 1 and April 9 memos, which required review of course material on race, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation and ordered some programs centered on sexual orientation and gender identity to be phased out.
Professors say the rules were applied inconsistently, citing orders to remove material on transgender and intersex patients from medical training, avoid the word “disparity,” and alter courses involving Holocaust victims, Plato’s Republic and Ta-Nehisi Coates.
The lawsuit argues the memos violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments and discriminate against Black faculty, while Texas Tech says civil-rights and Holocaust instruction remains permitted and regents have not rejected health sciences courses.
Creighton, a former state senator who authored Texas’ 2025 higher-education law expanding regents’ curriculum authority, has defended the restrictions as lawful; the case could shape similar policies at other Texas university systems.
Can universities comply with state curriculum mandates without losing essential federal funding and accreditation?
How do new classroom content rules affect the real-world value of a university degree from Texas?
With AI now scanning syllabi, who truly decides what students are permitted to learn in college?
Academic Freedom on Trial: Texas Tech’s 2026 Lawsuit and the National Battle Over Teaching Restrictions
Overview
In July 2026, the American Association of University Professors and its Texas affiliate filed a federal lawsuit against the Texas Tech University System, Chancellor Brandon Creighton, and the Board of Regents. The lawsuit challenges two key memos issued in December 2025 and April 2026, which imposed sweeping restrictions on teaching about race, gender, and sexual orientation. These policies banned certain content, eliminated academic programs focused on sexual orientation and gender identity, and required mandatory review of course materials. Plaintiffs argue that these directives severely limit educators’ ability to teach a comprehensive curriculum and violate academic freedom.