Texas Professors Depart Public Universities Over Censorship Policies on Gender and Sexuality

Several faculty members are departing from Texas public universities in response to censorship policies regarding gender identity and sexual orientation. Martin Peterson, a philosophy professor at Texas A&M, resigned after being prohibited from teaching Plato's Symposium in January. His colleague, Linda Raznik, will join Binghamton University in September following the forced resignation of former president Mark Welsh over nonbinary and transgender identity discussions. This summer, Lucy Schiller from Texas Tech University is set to move to Grinnell College after a memo from chancellor Brandon Creighton on December 1 concerning the regulation of gender and sexuality topics. In January, Texas A&M also shut down its women's and gender studies program, prompting faculty to steer clear of "controversial" subjects and raising concerns about the value of degrees.