Educators Denounce Latest Attack on Academic Freedom, Freedom of Speech – this time at Angelo State University

Sept. 22, 2025

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Nicole Hill, [email protected]

After weeks of turmoil in Texas higher education, colleges and universities are prematurely bending the knee to satisfy agitators

SAN ANGELO, Texas - This week, the fight for the First Amendment runs through Angelo State University, the latest stop for the ongoing statewide assault on free speech, due process, and academic freedom.

Sweeping new policies, released this week, undercut those basic tenets of higher education and strip faculty and students of their constitutional rights. The policies - if they are fully implemented - would take a sledgehammer to academic freedom and irreparably harm the learning environment, as they would:

• ban classroom discussion of transgender topics beyond biological sex at birth
• remove transgender-related content from syllabi
• prohibit use of preferred names
• strip pronouns from email signatures
• remove safe-space symbols and LGBTQ flags
• limit administrative defense of faculty who violate these restrictions

Let us be clear: These policies pose serious harm to students, in addition to increasing danger for the faculty assigned to teach them.

Students cannot learn when they do not feel safe. Transgender and LGBTQ+ students risk being silenced in class, denied affirming environments, and stripped of support systems. This blatant attack on expressing identity or even accessing relevant learning materials undermines mental health, academic engagement, and the basic trust needed to foster the future leaders of this country.

"What is happening at ASU is part of a larger assault on higher education and marginalized communities across Texas and the nation," said Dr. Brian Evans, president of the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (Texas AAUP-AFT). "Moreover, it is an overt attempt to erase individuals of diverse backgrounds and experiences by limiting not only what can be taught but also what ideas students can explore. These policies and this extremist push to censor open inquiry, debate, and discovery is an affront to the U.S. and Texas Constitutions and an assault on the very foundations of our colleges and universities."

Texas AAUP-AFT recognizes that administrators are under intense external pressure. But administrators' first duty is to uphold the core values of higher education: academic freedom, due process, and respect for law. The First Amendment demands no less. Courts, including the U.S. Fifth Circuit, have consistently held that violations of these rights may lead to constitutional claims against administrators personally.

If administrators at ASU or elsewhere want to avoid liability, then now is the time to honor their responsibilities to their employees and their students by standing firm against this governmental overreach by state lawmakers and the governor. Beyond that, it is the right thing to do to preserve the hard-earned credibility and institutional reputations our Texas colleges and universities have built.

Faculty, students, and Texans count on leadership that does not shrink, but instead stands tall against injustice.

Read Texas AAUP-AFT's open letter to university deans, department chairs, and administrators concerning upholding faculty rights to academic freedom and due process.

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The Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), affiliated with the Texas American Federation of Teachers (AFT), has 1,600 members on 80 campuses. We are a faculty-led union defending the right to teach, research, and speak freely. More info .