Advocacy
ACLS Joins PEN America in Letter to Texas A&M Board of Regents
The American Council of Learned Societies and member societies join PEN America in sending a letter to the Texas A&M Board of Regents in defense of academic freedom. On January 29, Texas A&M University announced that it is eliminating its Women’s & Gender Studies Program in addition to the recent escalation in the censorship of courses and course materials. The letter urges the Texas A&M University System Regents to rescind the recent changes to system policy that prohibit academic courses from “advocating race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The essence of universities is the freedom to think, to facilitate open inquiry and engage with the ideas of others. When universities restrict what faculty can teach and students can learn, they put that in jeopardy, undermining academic freedom, and the core purpose of education itself. Jonathan FriedmanSy Syms Managing Director, U.S. Free Expression Programs, PEN America
Letter to Texas A&M Board of Regents
Read the Letter