Texas A&M University is ending its women’s and gender studies program to comply with state and federal bans on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The decision eliminates six out of roughly 5,400 courses at the College Station campus. Students pursuing bachelor’s degrees and graduate certificates will be allowed to complete the programs as they are phased out.
Administrators cited declining enrollment in the courses and a need to implement revised policies that forbid “race or gender ideology” content in response to recent laws.
“Strong oversight and standards protect academic integrity and restore public trust, guaranteeing that a degree from Texas A&M means something to our students and the people who will hire them,” interim university President Tommy Williams said Friday.
“That has been our focus through this process and will remain our focus as we move forward,” Mr. Williams added.
The announcement comes as Texas A&M has spent much of the past year enforcing compliance with recent state laws and Trump administration policies banning DEI at publicly funded universities.
In September, the university fired former children’s literature professor Melissa McCoul after a student complained that a “gender unicorn” lesson violated President Trump’s executive order recognizing only two biological sexes.
Former university President Mark Welsh resigned less than two weeks later, as state Republican leaders pushed for a probe into complaints that he initially refused to fire Ms. McCoul.
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech advocacy group based in Philadelphia, criticized Texas A&M last month for barring philosophy professor Martin Peterson from using Plato to teach race and gender topics in an introductory class.
“Given the timing and surrounding context of the university’s decision to eliminate its Women’s and Gender Studies program, Texas A&M should expect skepticism,” Graham Piro, a FIRE academic freedom expert, said Monday.
Reached for comment, some constitutional law scholars said there is little chance of a lawsuit forcing Texas A&M to keep the program.
“Professors are free to write and research whatever they want,” said Ilya Shapiro, a libertarian constitutional law expert at the Manhattan Institute. “But university officials, trustees and ultimately state legislators can make decisions to cut classes, majors and whole departments.”
But Josh Blackman, a constitutional law scholar at the South Texas College of Law in Houston who has co-written articles on academic freedom with Mr. Shapiro, warned A&M to tread lightly about telling professors what to teach.
Mr. Blackman pointed to a legal precedent that “suggests professors do have a First Amendment right at state schools to decide what to include” in course descriptions.
Texas A&M said Friday that faculty and department heads have modified hundreds of spring course descriptions across its 17 colleges and schools.
The school noted that university deans asked Mr. Williams, the university president, and Provost Alan Sams to exempt 54 elective courses with race and gender materials from being purged.
The two administrators granted the exemptions for 48 of them, leaving the six women’s and gender studies classes on the chopping block.
“By working together, we will continue to provide a rigorous, relevant and future‑focused educational experience that prepares our students to lead with knowledge, integrity and purpose,” Mr. Sams said in a statement.
