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A student filmed the class, and asked the professor if it was legal to teach the class content. Class content that mentions the existence of gender.
The video went viral, and the professor and multiple school administrators have been fired as a result.
As far as I can tell, it is probably legal, and also aligns with school policy. The current government of Texas is trying very hard to change that.
The video went viral, and the professor and multiple school administrators have been fired as a result.
As far as I can tell, it is probably legal, and also aligns with school policy. The current government of Texas is trying very hard to change that.
Sorry, I'm not trying to be dense, but I'm not understanding the connection between the video going viral and staff being fired. The university could simply choose to do nothing? I feel like I'm missing something about the situation and the levers of power.
The video going viral brought the matter to the attention of texas government officials. The government officials strongly disagree with the content of the course.
It is a publicly funded school, and the government has some power to influence it, mainly control of funding. They likely could put up a fight, but government officials were threatening to fire various school administrators. They likely can’t actually do that directly, it would require a few steps, but the school doesn’t want to put up the fight I guess.
It’s the government censoring what gets taught at universities. Texas has been doing similar things at public schools too, but this is a university, which usually has more freedom in what gets taught.
It is a publicly funded school, and the government has some power to influence it, mainly control of funding. They likely could put up a fight, but government officials were threatening to fire various school administrators. They likely can’t actually do that directly, it would require a few steps, but the school doesn’t want to put up the fight I guess.
It’s the government censoring what gets taught at universities. Texas has been doing similar things at public schools too, but this is a university, which usually has more freedom in what gets taught.
Thank you for explaining the connection. The content of the book or the discussion is a big threat to the people in power in Texas?
The book has a non-binary character. The course also acknowledges the existence of transgender people.
This is part of a much broader crackdown in Texas on the LGBT community. The only “threat” here is that students might learn about the existence of trans and non-binary people. If they do that, they might have issues with how the current government of Texas is trying very hard to take away the rights of those people.
This is part of a much broader crackdown in Texas on the LGBT community. The only “threat” here is that students might learn about the existence of trans and non-binary people. If they do that, they might have issues with how the current government of Texas is trying very hard to take away the rights of those people.
Universities aren't the lofty, inviolable, autonomous institutions of lore; they're generally immediately dependent on alignment to their local and state governments. The governor (Abbot) would have replaced the BoR, which could and would have fired Welsh for continuing to align with Biden-era policies.
Welsh had been if not "resistant" to the rollback of DEI language and initiatives, then tolerant of them, and there have been campus protests against the current presidency. If the POTUS asks a state governor why they can't keep their people in line, that's going to come down the chain quickly.
These types of signals are not mysterious and complex (although the reporting on these topics tends to be selectively awful), and we often overestimate the subtlety of the politics involved. If Abbot is aligned to his party and the presidency, then he is expected to show he can act if called upon to.
Reprimanding a few faculty and terminating one senior lecturer as proof is worth more than whatever their legal affairs team is going to come up with to get everyone to move on. And Welsh is 71. He's "stepping down" into retirement.
Welsh had been if not "resistant" to the rollback of DEI language and initiatives, then tolerant of them, and there have been campus protests against the current presidency. If the POTUS asks a state governor why they can't keep their people in line, that's going to come down the chain quickly.
These types of signals are not mysterious and complex (although the reporting on these topics tends to be selectively awful), and we often overestimate the subtlety of the politics involved. If Abbot is aligned to his party and the presidency, then he is expected to show he can act if called upon to.
Reprimanding a few faculty and terminating one senior lecturer as proof is worth more than whatever their legal affairs team is going to come up with to get everyone to move on. And Welsh is 71. He's "stepping down" into retirement.
If you're genuinely surprised by this you haven't been paying attention.
1. https://www.scholastic.ca/our-books/book/jude-saves-the-worl...