(Texas Scorecard) – A Texas A&M spokesperson has confirmed that the university will deactivate 38 certificates and 14 minors, including the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies minor.
The A&M spokesperson told The Battalion that the official list of deactivated programs will not be public until it appears before the Faculty Senate on October 14. A university statement cited low enrollment as the reason for deactivating the programs.
However, Theresa Morris, the director of the Women’s and Gender Studies Program, said that the LGBTQ Studies minor was among those ending.
An official in the Department of Communication & Journalism also confirmed that certificates for both Communication, Diversity and Social Justice and Communication & Global Media are being deactivated.
Additionally, the director of Marketing and Communications in the College of Performance confirmed that the certificates for popular culture and performing social activism were also in the deactivation process.
This comes after State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian) repeatedly called DEI courses and the LGBTQ studies minor an “outrageous abuse of tax money” and examples of “taxpayer-funded indoctrination.”
Two sociology professors at A&M defended the program in a separate article by The Battalion, calling the classes a necessary addition to the educational opportunities offered to the students.
Classes required for the LGBTQ minor include “Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies” and “Queer Theory.” Optional classes included “Stereotypes, Prejudice, and Minority Experience,” “Sex and Sexuality in History,” “Gender and Genre,” “Feminist Theory,” and “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Cinemas.”
Texas Scorecard previously reported on other classes including “Adolescent Masculinity and the Fag Discourse,” “A Theory of Gendered Organizations,” “Women in Hip-Hop Push Back Against the Male Gaze,” and a certificate in Social Justice Leadership offered by the Bush School of Government & Public Service’s Center for Nonprofits & Philanthropy.
“After months of calling for A&M to end this absurd program, I was pleased to learn from Chancellor Sharp they plan to end it,” Harrison told Texas Scorecard. “Proud to have helped deliver this victory for Texas taxpayers, who should never be forced to fund liberal indoctrination. I look forward to further discussions with A&M and will continue fighting to keep taxpayers from funding leftist propaganda that does nothing to strengthen our economy or the workforce of tomorrow.”
Students currently enrolled in programs being deactivated will be able to complete them. The deactivation process still requires a full review and approval from the Faculty Senate and TAMU President Mark A. Welsh III.
The courses that were required or optional for the deactivated programs will still be offered.