Texas A&M students could soon lose courses on LGBTQ+ people, women, and race

Texas A&M University could soon remove courses focused on LGBTQ+ people, women, and people of color from its core curriculum as part of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s anti-diversity push.Regents for the statewide university system are expected to vote Thursday on whether to scale back core course offerings as part of a mandated five-year review of their relevance, according to the Texas Tribune. More than 200 courses could be eliminated across the system.Professors across the system have voiced outrage over the proposed cuts.Related: Texas A&M removes administrators over 'transgender indoctrination' accusations by student“This is a political decision,” said Leonard Bright, president of the American Association of University Professors chapter at Texas A&M-College Station. “You are basically telling us now that the globalness that it once valued and said that it was going to protect is no longer a priority.”Courses facing elimination include Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies, LGBTQ Literatures, Introduction to Latinx Literature Studies, Women Writers, Introduction to Race and Ethnicity, Gender and Health, and Blacks in the United States. Courses addressing climate change could also be removed.The College Station campus could see the largest number of courses eliminated, according to the regents’ agenda. Officials there have proposed removing 103 classes.Related: Texas A&M bans teaching 'race or gender ideology' at universitiesTexas A&M University System spokesman Chris Bryan said each campus conducted its own independent review. “Each institution’s core varies because its mission and academic offerings are different, but all were reviewed against the same requirements in state law and system policy,” he said in a statement.The potential course cuts follow the passage of SB 37, a state law requiring core courses to be “foundational and fundamental.” Critics predicted the law would enable the censorship of subjects that conflict with the stat