Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy joined fellow GOP lawmaker Rep. Brian Harrison in calling for Texas A&M University to end an available minor degree in LGBTQ+ studies Thursday, the Daily Caller has learned.
State lawmakers are beginning to push back against the publicly funded Lone Star state school after finding that the university is now offering a minor in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Studies in which students “examine the ways gender and sexuality are socially constructed.” The school site describes the available study as a way to “develop critical thinking, writing, and analytical skills” while exploring issues like “homophobia and transphobia’s relationship to forms of power (colonialism, sexism, ableism, classism, etc.).” (RELATED: Texas School District Lobbies Against School Choice Despite Parents’ Overwhelming Support)
“You’ll critically analyze how sexuality and sexual orientation shape gender roles, identities, and social statuses in societies,” the school site says. “Through these courses, you’ll develop an intricate and nuanced understanding of LGBTQ+ lived experiences, histories and social movements.”
Roy and Harrison slammed the new program. Roy told the Daily Caller that Texas A&M and higher educational institutes in general need to be “held accountable” for their advancement of “radical woke policies.”
“It’s time for Higher Education Institutions – including Texas A&M – to be held accountable for advancing radical woke policies – both in the Texas Legislature and Congress. Enough,” Roy told the Daily Caller.
This must be fixed in the next legislative session, completely. https://t.co/dNflRi1Pfd
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) February 15, 2024
Harrison, who is a graduate of the university, notably discovered the LGBTQ+ minor availability in late January, posting to X (formerly known as Twitter) that he would be “demanding answers” from the school on why they believe his constituents “should be forced to subsidize” the undergraduate minor.
Texas A&M is offering a MINOR in this??
What. The. Hell.
I will be demanding answers from @tamu on why they think my constituents should be forced to subsidize this. #txlege #txed pic.twitter.com/RNeXIjzXfz
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) January 22, 2024
“Texas A&M has been considered one of the most conservative major public institutions of higher education in all of America,” Harrison told the Daily Caller. “If Texas A&M is going this far off the rails then I think this speaks volumes of the state of [publicly] funded higher education in the country.”
“In alignment with academic freedom, curricular changes are driven by faculty and follow a standard administrative process. To date, no faculty member has requested such a change regarding this minor. Per Texas A&M University Standard Administrative Procedure, the closure of a degree, minor, or certificate program must go through the Full Review Process,” the school justified, according to Harrison.
“While the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has a process to review majors for low degree production and their potential consolidation and closure, there is currently not a state process to similarly review minors. Texas A&M University is going above state requirements and developing a process to include the University’s 156 minors in a similar review. This minor will be part of that review process.”