The following statement was delivered at a meeting of the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Nov. 13, 2025, before the board adopted two policy changes. The first change prohibits any academic course to teach race or gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity, unless the course and its materials are approved in advance by a university president.
The second change establishes a systemwide database, managed with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence, that documents what each course is approved to teach. A 24/7 online tool will allow students to report directly to system offices when they suspect that inaccurate information or unauthorized topics are beting discussed.
My name is Dr. Leonard Bright, professor at Texas A&M College Station and president of the TAMU Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP-TAMU). I speak today as a concerned citizen regarding proposals to restrict discussions on so-called racial and gender ideology and to prohibit teaching topics not pre-approved on syllabi. These measures would impact every course in the Texas A&M System, from undergraduate to doctoral programs. I thank the many faculty who have submitted testimony and are here today. Your actions and presence show your deep commitment to this institution and our students. I am honored to stand with you.
We are ready to help the Board of Regents address any problems that exist in our institutions with respect to instruction, but these proposals take the wrong approach and threaten the very foundation of higher education at this institution.
As educators, our duty is to teach, pursue, and even advocate for the truth, even when it encourages our students to reflect honestly on themselves and their responsibilities as citizens in our diverse society.
Your proposal restricts the experts from discussing bona fide facts like the history of slavery in America, the difference between gender and sex, and the importance that LGBTQ+ individuals be treated with dignity and respect. These truths have shaped every academic field, from medicine and public policy to engineering, business, and law. Your proposal will rob students of their inherent right to learn, question, and understand these impacts.
The best teaching is fluid, dynamic, and responsive to students’ curiosity. We expect students to learn the lesson plan as well as draw connections within and outside of their courses. We call this cross-pollination. We cannot predict the questions they will ask as they seek a deeper understanding. Your proposal would silence that process, force learning into narrowly defined boxes, and gag faculty from teaching the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help us God, without your approval. This is not university-level education, it is cruelty and political indoctrination in wolf clothing. I will need to tell my students that what you came here to learn, I am restricted from teaching you, even though such knowledge is available at every major university in the world.
Where did these proposals come from? Certainly, not from the faculty. We were neither consulted nor informed. They could not have come from the general public, as there is no evidence that even a majority of conservatives agree with them. These ideas were summarily rejected by the Texas Legislature.
So, what about the students whose education is at stake? Did you consult or survey them? Are you sure they want to pay full price for a back baked, crooked education? Will they look kindly at the declining value and reputation of their degrees?
More importantly, do you care about what your customers think and want from their education?
I stand with Dr. Melissa McCoul and expect Texas A&M to stand by its commitment to academic freedom by reinstating her.
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Texas State University Chapter of AAUP 
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