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The University of Texas System’s Board of Regents unanimously approved Thursday a rule requiring its universities to ensure students can graduate without studying “unnecessary controversial subjects,” despite warnings it could leave them less prepared for the real world.

The rule also requires faculty to disclose in their syllabi the topics they plan to cover and adhere to the plan, and says that when courses include controversial issues, instructors must ensure a “broad and balanced approach” to the discussion.

The policy does not define what qualifies as “controversial” or what constitutes a “broad and balanced approach.” Opponents warned that leaving those terms undefined would force administrators to interpret them case by case, pressuring professors to avoid difficult material rather than risk complaints.

“Will they (administrators) be experts in the relevant disciplines or will they just seek to avoid unpleasant publicity?” Peter Onyisi, a University of Texas at Austin physics professor, said during roughly 40 minutes of public testimony from 10 speakers, a mix of faculty, students and alumni who all opposed the policy.

Board Chair Kevin Eltife said the lack of specificity came as the system tried to craft a policy that could work in today’s politically charged environment.

“We are in difficult times,” he said. “Vagueness can be our friend.”

Other speakers said restricting controversial material would leave students unprepared for careers that require navigating complex, unsettled political and social problems.

“The job market is really tough right now, ask any undergrad,” said David Gray Widder, a professor in UT-Austin’s School of Information. “We can’t do this to our students.”

A civil rights attorney also warned the rule could invite legal challenges. Allen Liu, policy counsel for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, said it could lead to “viewpoint discrimination” and disproportionately affect Black students and faculty by discouraging teaching about slavery, segregation and other subjects central to Black history.

The UT System has had a rule for at least a decade stating faculty are entitled to freedom in the classroom but “are expected not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter that has no relation to his or her subject.”

The vote comes a week after UT-Austin announced it will consolidate its African and African Diaspora Studies, Mexican American and Latino Studies, American Studies, and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies departments into a new Social and Cultural Analysis department. More than 800 students are pursuing majors, minors and graduate degrees in the affected programs. At the time, university President Jim Davis said the reorganization followed a review that found “some significant inconsistencies and fragmentation” across departments in the College of Liberal Arts.

Over the past year, public universities have faced mounting pressure from state and federal leaders to address a perceived liberal bias. Under a new state law, Senate Bill 37, governor-appointed regents have more oversight of classroom instruction, hiring and discipline. That, coupled with conservative backlash last fall over a gender identity lesson at Texas A&M University, has led the Texas A&M and Texas Tech systems to adopt policies restricting how race, gender, sexuality can be taught.

The policy UT passed Thursday does not explicitly ban those topics.

Last year, UT-Austin was also one of nine universities offered preferential access to federal funding in exchange for agreeing to ensure departments reflect a mix of perspectives and promote civic values and Western civilization, among other requirements.

Some students argue that even without formally signing the agreement, UT-Austin is already moving in that direction. Alfonso Ayala III, a doctoral student in Mexican American and Latina/o Studies at UT-Austin, pointed to the university expanding the conservative-backed School of Civic Leadership as his department loses autonomy.

“It’s hard to understand this as anything other than ideological and political,” Ayala said.

The UT System, one of the nation’s largest public university systems, enrolls more than 260,000 students across nine campuses and four medical centers statewide, all subject to the rule the regents approved Thursday.

After the vote, Eltife said campus leaders would review curricula and make a “principled determination” about when controversial material is required for a degree and when it should be offered as an elective. 

Eltife also directed Chancellor John Zerwas and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Archie Holmes to ensure institutions comply with state and federal directives related to gender identity. 

Last year, President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott issued executive orders directing federal and state agencies to recognize only two sexes, male and female. There is no state or federal law prohibiting teaching about gender identity.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

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