(NEW YORK)— PEN America said today a potential new policy at Angelo State University in Texas that bans discussion of gender and transgender people in classrooms is “extreme and dangerous” and would undermine academic freedom and basic free expression rights for faculty and students.
According to reports, Angelo State University’s new policy would ban classroom discussions of “transgender topics,” or any references to transgender issues on syllabi. Beyond this, the policy bans faculty from including their pronouns in email signatures, demands that faculty refer to a student only by their given name, and requires all employees to remove LGBTQ+ flags or symbols that could designate an area a “safe space.” Despite the University’s claim that this policy will ‘fully comply with the letter of the law,’ there is no Texas or federal law that would require this kind of sweeping ban on speech in university classrooms and in faculty communications.
Campus Free Speech Program Director Kristen Shahverdian said: “This policy flies in the face of the principles of free expression and academic freedom. In the midst of layered attacks on trans students, including from federal, state and local governments nationwide, the ASU administration is clearly misrepresenting current Texas law in order to justify their policy. This is an example of extreme and dangerous overcompliance by an administration that is allowing the perceived wishes of lawmakers to intrude into both classroom instruction and daily communications on its campus. Let us be clear, no government has the power to supersede First Amendment protections.”
Disturbingly, the Concho Observer reported that professors have been told that if they “make any statement implying that there are more than two sexes or genders (male and female) they will be fired.” The policy comes in the wake of a recent political firestorm leading to the firing of a Texas A&M professor over an academic discussion of gender identity in an English class.
“The university is putting professors in an impossible double bind,” Shahverdian said “They can either teach their classes and fulfill their duty to the students of Texas and be fired. Or, they can submit to a draconian, baseless policy that threatens the very mission of the university. Unfortunately, this policy is likely to have an outsized impact on students, faculty, and others who are already marginalized on the campus.”
PEN America calls on ASU administrators to reverse this policy, stand by their faculty and students, and uphold their commitments to free expression and academic freedom. Shahverdian said: “There has never been a more important time for higher education institutions to live up to their missions and to stand firm against political coercion.
About PEN America
PEN America stands at the intersection of literature and human rights to protect free expression in the United States and worldwide. We champion the freedom to write, recognizing the power of the word to transform the world. Our mission is to unite writers and their allies to celebrate creative expression and defend the liberties that make it possible. Learn more at pen.org.
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, [email protected], 201-247-5057