Texas Tech restricts classroom teaching on controversial subjects, and what instructors must do now to keep their jobs is shocking

Texas Tech University System Chancellor Brandon Creighton sent out a memo on Monday with strict new rules about how teachers can discuss race, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation in class. Teachers who don’t follow these rules could face serious punishment. The approval process they must now go through is complicated, and the Board of Regents makes the final decision on what can be taught.

According to Fox News, the memo lists six specific beliefs that teachers cannot “promote” in their classes. This doesn’t just mean avoiding certain words. It means teachers cannot present ideas like “one race or sex is naturally better than another.” The rules also ban promoting the idea that “hard work or merit-based success are racist, sexist, or tools of oppression.”

Creighton explained that “promotion” means presenting these beliefs as true or required and pushing students to agree with them, instead of discussing them as just one opinion among many. The new process directly affects how teachers do their jobs and their freedom to teach.

The approval system creates major obstacles for academic freedom

If a teacher’s course material covers any of these restricted topics, they must follow a complex new system just to keep their lesson plan. First, they need to decide if the material is relevant and necessary. If it’s required for professional licenses, certifications, or patient care, it can stay in the course, but the Board of Regents still gets informed.

If the material isn’t required for those professional reasons, the teacher must submit it for approval to the department chair, the dean, and the provost. These officials then send their recommendation and explanation to the Board of Regents for final approval. This creates a long chain of command for normal course changes. The memo says this depends on the “honest participation of every teacher.” It warns that not following these rules “may result in punishment according to university policies and state law.”

The memo has already had a big impact. Kelli Cargile Cook, a retired professor who started Texas Tech’s Department of Professional Communication, was so upset by the changes that she wrote a resignation letter instead of teaching her planned spring class.

“I’ve been teaching since 1981, and this was going to be my last class. I was so looking forward to working with the seniors in our major, but I can’t stomach what’s going on at Texas Tech,” she said. “I think the memo is cunning in that the beliefs that it lists are at face value, something you could agree with.

Concerns about classroom safety and teacher protection have already made teaching more challenging in recent years.

She said having the politically appointed Board of Regents, who aren’t teachers or researchers, approve what gets taught is a serious problem. She also criticized the memo for treating “settled facts” like historical figures being racist as just “one viewpoint among many.”

Creighton became chancellor last month after Tedd L. Mitchell retired. He says these new rules are needed to provide “clarity, consistency and guidelines that protect academic excellence.” A system representative confirmed the memo is meant to guide teachers as they prepare for the spring semester.

However, Andrew Martin, president of the Texas Tech chapter of the American Association of University Professors, called the memo a “profound disappointment.” He said the new rules violate the First Amendment and actively harm transgender students and colleagues.

Meanwhile, educators sharing their classroom experiences online continue to draw attention to teaching challenges. This isn’t the first time the Texas Tech System has limited classroom content. System leaders put restrictions on discussing gender identity in September. These new requirements are directly connected to Senate Bill 37, which Creighton wrote before becoming chancellor.