The plaintiffs in the Texas lawsuits will likely rely on the 11th Circuit decision striking down parts of Florida’s Stop WOKE Act, Miller said.
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The American Association of University Professors sued Texas A&M University officials and the system Board of Regents last week to block a policy that limits discussion of “race or gender ideology” in class unless preapproved by the institution’s president.
The policy, implemented last November, resulted in a systemwide course review and several canceled courses. The lawsuit followed another, brought by the AAUP in July against Texas Tech officials, which similarly argues that Chancellor Brandon Creighton’s memos preventing faculty from teaching content related to ill-defined concepts of sexual orientation and gender ideology violate the First and 14th Amendments.
At both institutions, faculty resorted to self-censorship, unsure what material might violate the vague rules and put them at risk of discipline, including termination.
