‘This is too much’: Profs outraged when told they should not ‘indoctrinate’ students at public university

Professors at the University of Houston (UH) are complaining about a new rule requiring them to self-check their coursework to ensure they are not indoctrinating students.

Professors reportedly received a memo from UH administrators announcing they may soon be required to evaluate their curricula for “personal or institutional advocacy,” according to Chron. The proposed rule was written in response to a recently enacted state law requiring schools to review programs to ensure they do not contain biased views and actually “prepare students for civic and professional life.”

The university previously asked faculty to sign a pledge to “not indoctrinate” students with their course materials, a move that prompted outrage from some professors, Chron reported.

“This is too much,” María C. González, associate English professor at UH, told Chron. “We’ve already dealt with the loyalty oath [committing not to indoctrinate]. And now you want us to do something like a self-evaluation that basically sets us up to self-censor?”

“The whole thing is draconian and ridiculous and out of control—and it’s really galvanized all of my colleagues,” she continued. “There’s no way I’m going to do a self-evaluation checklist to claim my innocence for accusations that don’t exist.”

Texas law prevents core curriculum at universities from endorsing “specific public policies, ideologies, or legislation,” and requires schools to ensure courses are “foundational and fundamental,” “necessary to prepare students for civic and professional life,” and “equip students for participation in the workforce and in the betterment of society.” The state has taken steps to remove diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) departments and initiatives from school systems.

“The people who seek to muzzle faculty from entering into uncomfortable topics in the classroom are doing a disservice to our students,” Holley Carole Love, another UH professor, told Chron. “Discussing difficult topics is how we teach students to think critically, to form and support their own arguments, and to engage in thoughtful and respectful debate.”

UH professors also claim administrators have conducted searches of curricula for using certain keywords, Chron reported.

A UH spokesman told the Daily Caller News Foundation the guidance for course reviews is still being developed and is not intended to be an administrative directive.

Many Texas universities have begun cutting gender and race-based programs based on the new law. The state even stripped the American Bar Association — previously the nation’s sole law school accreditor — of its oversight of Texas schools, citing “unlawful race and sex discrimination” based on its requirement for universities to ensure their student and staff bodies are “diverse with respect to gender, race, and ethnicity.”

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