Yesterday, in addition to cancelling six (6) unidentified classes and granting exemptions to 48 of them, TAMU Provost Alan Sams said, “…the university is ending the Women’s and Gender Studies program to comply with system policies…including the ‘difficult decision’ to begin winding down the Women’s and Gender Studies academic programs, including the BA, BS, Graduate Certificate and the Minor.”
“Effective immediately, students will not be able to enroll in these curricular options.” The communique is from Texas A&M Senior Executive Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Cynthia Werner, notifying faculty for Women’s and Gender Studies that Interim President Tommy Williams has closed the program.
The goal of Women’s and Gender Studies was advertised in the TAMU course catalog as “attractive to employers looking for recruits trained in: critical thinking, organizational skills, reading, writing, and presenting.” Further, “specialists…find opportunities in counseling, health care, media, and social work…also excellent preparation for engaging in public policy, law and education in science fields.”
Deciding to end these degrees and course offerings affects both women and men who studied these subjects as well. Such actions comprise deep censorship and squelching of academic freedom. Discussing topics does not imply indoctrination.
That’s the fatal flaw of most obliteration of “things different from you” in courses of study: the fear that if one studies something, immediately a person will adopt a philosophy, path, pattern, or behavior they read about.
It does not harm anyone to study this subject matter, despite the fears of those who are uninformed.
Some of the discontinued classes (taken directly from the online TAMU catalog) include:
WGST 207 Introduction to Gender and Society
Historical and cross-cultural perspectives on women's roles in culture, the workplace, the family and other socio-political institutions; the social construction of gender; sexuality and racism; social control mechanisms and ideologies.
WGST 213 Gender and Health
An examination of social and historical context of health in the U.S., including inequities in health by gender, race, class and gendered issues in health professions.
WGST 300 Psychology of Women
Theoretical and research literature relevant to psychological assumptions about the female personality; challenges to and verification of these assumptions by recent experimental studies.
WGST 303 Psychology of Women of Color
Interdisciplinary theories to study the unique yet intersectional experiences of women from different racial groups, ethnicities, nationalities and cultural backgrounds; scholarly research from the diversity science field; contemporary topics that have developed in a global context; examination of complex issues, which affect women of color across the lifespan.
WGST 315 The Marriage Institution
Courtship, engagement, marriage, family formation, personal adjustment, conflict, financing and child rearing.
WGST 316 Sociology of Gender
Sociological explanations of status differences between men and women; cross-cultural comparisons; gender role socialization, cultural stereotypes, discrimination; gender roles and status in the family, economy, religion, science, other social institutions; deviance, victimization and gender; recent social changes.
WGST 330 Women in Ancient Greece and Rome
Survey of women in classical Greece and Rome; emphases on female occupations and family relationships, legal and political status, traditional values, notorious women, how women were viewed and how they viewed themselves.
WGST 334 Women’s Health
A broad range of health issues that are either unique to women or of special importance to women; information for the health consumer; preparation as an advocate of healthy lifestyles; awareness of the role health plays in the life of all women.
WGST 367 Women in Government in Comparative Perspective
Examination of women's representation in government based on comparison across multiple nation-states; focus on legislative and executive branches of democratic governments.
Other class offerings in the curriculum deal specifically with LGBTQ+ issues. The mere mention of the acronym causes some a kneejerk reaction and potential claim that Texas A&M is indoctrinating students to “this way of life.”
This is frequently followed by the proclamation that such teachings are “woke.” Learning and critical thinking are personal choices.
The word “inclusion” has become an epithet spewed from some speakers as though it were a contagion. In polite society, including someone meant making sure no one was left out, as that does cause harm, all other things being equal.
One has only to walk across the TAMU campus and take in the art, music, books in the library, catch an OPAS show or BVSO concert, University Orchestra program, Century Singers, and Singing Cadets concert, and performances on Kyle Field from the inimitable Fightin’ Texas Aggie Band to know what levels of culture have been amassed here for the purpose of learning to appreciate art for art’s sake.
Yet, no one asks whether some of the art was created by members of what is today known as the LGBTQ+ community. It would appear hypocritical to patronize, appreciate, laud, and honor various works of art as masterpieces, paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for their collections, to book a show, or to perform musical works, and then not want to allow one’s young people to study about the artists because of their potential lifestyle categorization.
TAMU Regents failed to consider long-ranging repercussions of their latest decision. The current Board includes members of two majority categories (visit their online bios):
Robert L. Albritton, Jay Graham, David Baggett, John Bellinger, James R. “Randy” Brooks, Michael A. “Mike” Hernandez III, William “Bill” Mahomes Jr., Kelley Sullivan Georgiades, and Sam Torn with student regent Jaquavous S. Doucette.
These same regents are responsible for:
November 2025—"a policy requiring campus presidents to sign off on courses that could be seen as ‘advocating race and gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity.”
December 2025—" TAMU Regents voted to ban “most discussions of these topics in introductory or core curriculum classes. Exceptions could be made if administrators determined the material serves a necessary educational purpose.”
January 2026—"Cancellation of the ethics and public policy course taught by Dr. Leonard Bright of the Bush School of Government and Public Service.” Dr. Bright had been teaching this course for over 15 years here.
January 2026—Ending the Women’s and Gender Studies program to comply with system policies…"including the ‘difficult decision’ to begin winding down the Women’s and Gender Studies academic programs, including the BA, BS, Graduate Certificate and the Minor.”
The email came from the female Texas A&M Senior Executive Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Cynthia Werner, not the male Interim University President Tommy Williams. No called meeting of faculty, no discussion with students presently enrolled in these degree majors, only an edict.
Besides freedom of speech, the university leadership and professors specifically are to have academic freedom, per the guidelines of the American Association of University Professors.
From the AAUP website:
“Advancing and protecting academic freedom is the AAUP's core mission. Academic freedom is the indispensable requisite for unfettered teaching and research in institutions of higher education. As the academic community's core policy document states, ‘Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole. The common good depends upon the free search for truth and its free exposition’ (1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, which has been endorsed by more than 280 national scholarly and educational associations).”
Finally, on January 30, the announcement came: TAMU Regents are “looking to begin semiconductor institute construction this year” at the RELLIS campus. Semiconductors represent an industry filled with visiting scholars from all over the world, specifically individuals who are in Texas on H1-B visas, many of whom are women.
Governor Abbott has ordered a freeze on H1-B visas at state agencies and launched an investigation about “bringing in high-skilled workers from other countries.”
One cannot properly address H1-B visas without reviewing the language on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration website as to the classification of nonimmigrants: “This nonimmigrant classification applies to people who wish to perform services in a specialty occupation, services of exceptional merit and ability relating to a Department of Defense (DOD) cooperative research and development project, or services as a fashion model of distinguished merit or ability.”
The cost of Texas A&M today has skyrocketed in the past decade. For those whose parents are paying tuition, one projects that many years of savings and sacrifices went into amassing the expenses for four years of tuition, fees, books, room and board. This does not include parking, sports passes, entertainment, and vacations for spring and summer breaks. Many students sit out a year while working to save who are paying their own tuition. They acquire massive debt in student loans to finish their degrees. One rightfully expects value for their sacrifice.
Many were not aware until today: Yale University is offering free tuition for those whose family income does not exceed $200,000. The “best and brightest” minds might well choose Yale over A&M, or any other school where academic freedom flourishes. Female scholars and future leaders who might have once chosen to attend or teach at Texas A&M or other state schools will be lost to any schools not governed by state politics.
Diversity is the key to an intelligent population. Discussion is the key to finding (equal) solutions. Decisions are made by collective intelligence of a group (inclusion). As a wise professor of educational administration once said, “No one person is as smart as all of us.”
Women are watching. Women are discussing. Women are deciding.
TAMU Regents: What exactly are you saying to welcome women today and for the future?
Women are listening—and so are their parents, spouses, brothers, husbands, children, and friends—all of whom spend money here. It’s not just Texas watching; the country is aware: check the AP Wire.
[Photo licensed and used courtesy of kieferpix]
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