Key Takeaways
- UT-Austin cuts majors focused on race and gender studies and stops admitting new students to three affected programs.
- Current students can complete degrees in the affected programs.
- Faculty must propose a new major by the end of the semester.
The University of Texas at Austin has stopped admitting new students to majors focused on African and African diaspora, Mexican American and Latino, and women and gender studies after university officials rejected faculty proposals to keep them.
University Rejects Faculty Plan to Keep Majors
Danielle Clealand, a professor and interim chair of UT-Austin’s Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, told faculty in an email this week that the provost’s office rejected the department’s proposal to retain the three majors, as UT-Austin cuts majors amid changes to its academic programs.
“The frustration from always receiving bad news weighs on me, as I’m sure it does all of you,” Clealand wrote. “I’m here to convey whatever message we want to convey; I just wish I didn’t have to.”
The university will allow students already committed to the programs to complete their degrees, a university spokesperson told KUT News. Faculty members will instead have until the end of the semester to propose a new major.
Clealand wrote in a follow-up email Thursday that removing the majors from admission applications happened without public notice. She also said it appeared the department’s dean was unaware of the decision.
UT-Austin’s website still lists the affected degree programs as UT-Austin cuts majors. Representatives for Executive Vice President and Provost William Inboden and the university’s media department did not respond to requests for comment from The Texas Tribune.
State Law Gives Presidents More Power
The decision follows changes to how academic programs are reviewed within the University of Texas System. A new state law allowed the system to overhaul the process, giving university presidents broader authority to decide whether programs should be eliminated.
Possible reasons include program costs, student demand, and whether a program fits a university’s mission. Faculty members cannot appeal the decisions.
Earlier this year, UT-Austin cuts majors as it merged its African studies, Latino studies, and gender studies departments into the new Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. The university initially kept the majors, which are among programs pursued by hundreds of students, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune.
University officials agreed to retain programs focused on American history and culture and urban growth and development, according to Clealand’s email.
The changes come as Texas universities face increased political pressure over how public schools and colleges address race, gender and sexuality.
Texas Tech administrators have said professors could face discipline for failing to comply with restrictions on such discussions. Texas A&M University also eliminated its women and gender studies degree program.
Professors Say Programs Remain Important
Karma Chávez, who previously chaired UT-Austin’s Mexican American and Latina/o Studies department and leads the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, said UT-Austin cuts majors send a message about the value of the fields.
“Students don’t know whether it’s even legal for them to take courses in things about gender or race or ethnicity because there’s so much hostility,” Chávez said.
UT-Austin also was among universities asked by the Trump administration to adopt strict definitions of gender and eliminate academic departments federal officials viewed as hostile to conservative ideas. Federal officials said campuses that agreed would receive priority for funding.
UT-Austin President Jim Davis later told The Daily Texan that the federal proposal was intended to collect feedback rather than require universities to sign an agreement.
Lauren Gutterman, a professor in the Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, said recent events reinforce the need for courses examining race, ethnicity and gender.
“Politicians outside of the university and officials from within have sent clear messages about which students are welcome and wanted on this campus as UT-Austin cuts majors in race, ethnicity and gender studies,” Gutterman said.
The university has not publicly announced the major eliminations, while its website continues to display information about the programs.
Visit more of our news! Future Education Magazine