Education at Texas State is at risk of undergoing censorship. With the removal of LGBTQ+ courses and the termination of faculty, Texas State’s curriculum has come to reflect the ideals of state legislators rather than academic pursuit.
With the state’s introduction of bills such as SB 12 and SB 37, alongside pressure on Texas State by state representatives to remove material from the curriculum, Texas State’s quality of education is at risk, already presenting itself through the limitations put on campus free speech.
Education should be free of biases and provide a variety of topics for students to consider to form opinions. The increase in state-wide censorship at schools has challenged the very concept of education, contradicting and weaponizing it.
If biases derived from political talking points is presented in higher educational curricula, learning in public facilities will become synonymous with indoctrination.
Former Associate History Professor Tom Alter’s termination and the removal of courses related to LGBTQ+ studies show how censorship has already affected the campus. Tensions at Texas State have increased, leading students and faculty to fear how far the breach may extend. Faculty should not have to tiptoe around predetermined lines when teaching their students.
Micromanaging classrooms is a direct attack on higher education by state legislators. Without a broad education with topics that can be controversial, the validity of a Texas State degree may dwindle as essential information is withheld. Texas State could become known as an institution that prohibits discussions necessary for gaining expertise in fields of study, ultimately affecting the value of its degrees.
Dwight David Watson, an associate professor of history at Texas State who specializes in African American history and the civil rights movement, said education is most effective when it is not being manipulated by those in power.
“If you control what I learn, you control what we think … they’re trying to limit the maximum effectiveness of education,” Watson said. “Why all of a sudden is equity and fairness no longer appealing? It turns out they’re afraid of obsolescence … of competing fairly against people.”
This censorship in education is not a new concept. The Red Scare is a term used to refer to two individual periods of censorship spurred by government warnings on the influence of communist ideologies.
During this period, higher education saw the surveillance of teachers and removal of course content due to paranoia, limiting earnest discussions critical to fully understanding subjects.
This disrupted higher education with mass firings of faculty, while creating knowledge gaps among students. Students would go on to lack information and contexts of topics arbitrarily deemed communist, harming society as a whole.
Texas State is at risk of undergoing a McCarthy-esque crusade as state legislators violate academic freedom and impose their ideologies on students.
Students and faculty at Texas State need to be aware of this change, making sure to apply pressure to the university to protect the quality of a Texas State education. Texas State has already seen guest lecturers deciding not to speak at Texas State in lieu of recent campus events.
Academic excellence at Texas State may falter if compliance with censorship continues. Faculty may see lower attendance rates in classes as students begin to value their education less, while students applying to Texas State may reconsider attending.
This academic breach will make Texas State a less attractive school, pushing passionate professors away from working under the name of a school that bows down to calls for censorship.
To prevent another Red Scare, Texas State must fight to expand its curriculum rather than diminish it.
-Mark Gabrielides is an English and education freshman
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