Legislative, Executive, and Institutional Assaults on Academic Freedom, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at UT Austin

• In Event: Research as Repair: Advancing Educational Justice Through the Critical Study of Policy Implementation

Abstract

During the 2023 legislative session, Texas legislators debated three bills that assert greater state control over public institutions of higher education. Senate Bill 16, which outlawed subject matter framed as Critical Race Theory, died in committee (although a new version may appear in 2025). Senate Bill 17, which passed, outlawed DEI officers, offices, and programs. Senate Bill 18, which also passed, placed greater restrictions on tenure. Senate Bills 17 and 18 were reinforced by provisions in the state budget penalizing institutions that did not fully comply with the legislation, which was itself vague. Subsequently, an Executive Order required institutions to place greater restrictions on speech deemed antisemitic.
Like similar actions elsewhere that responded to templates created by conservative organizations, these legislative and executive actions have greatly impacted students, faculty, and staff at Texas universities and colleges. This paper analyzes (1) how the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas System implemented SB 17 and SB 18, and (2) how implementation was influenced by legislative and executive pressure as well as by faculty, staff, and student organizations and activism. The paper is based on an analysis of public documents as well as participant observation in an informal faculty/student coalition based at UT Austin. This coalition included the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Texas AFT (American Federation of Teachers), NAACP Legal Defense Fund, UT Faculty Council, UT Staff Council, UT Student Government, and Texas Students for DEI.
Members of the coalition were united by a commitment to academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure as expressed in AAUP documents going back to 1940 and frequently renewed. These principles reflect a belief in the value of education as a common good dating to John Dewey but recently reconceived by Joan W. Scott (2019) and others in response to more instrumental, privatized approaches to education.
Analysis of the debate about the legislation and executive order as well as University and System implementation reveals that all three principles—academic freedom, shared governance, and tenure—have been significantly weakened. Faculty, staff, and students relying on these principles in advocacy efforts found themselves cut off from sources of information and decision-making spaces. Additionally, those relying discursively on arguments based on the value of educational diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice found themselves encountering misinformation about the definition of each of these values. They also encountered a broad definition of antisemitism that leaves little room for scholarly debate or political activism.
Lessons learned through the UT Austin experience with SB 17, SB 18, and the Executive Order have broad significance, since similar bills are being considered and implemented in conservative states across the country. Foremost among these lessons are the need for (1) greater organizing among faculty, staff, and students; (2) coalition-building with progressive legislators and civil rights organizations; and (3) advocacy at the University and System level to limit over-implementation of legislative and executive actions.

Author

• Pauline Turner Strong, University of Texas at Austin