Compiled by SUSAN JONES
The controversy over a children’s literature course at Texas A&M University that recognized more than two genders continues to claim victims. The university’s Board of Regents announced Sept. 18 that the school’s president, Mark A. Welsh III, would step down today over his handling over the incident.
On Sept. 8, Welsh fired a faculty member and removed a dean and department head from their administrative roles after an English course that included discussion of gender and sexuality drew fierce criticism from Republican lawmakers, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported.
A student shot a video of a confrontation with the professor, in which the student said President Trump’s administration would push for the recognition of only two genders. Welsh said in firing the professor that his decision was not “about academic freedom; it’s about academic responsibility.” He said the course included “content that was inconsistent with the published course description,” adding, “If we allow different course content to be taught from what is advertised, we break trust with our students.”
He also announced an audit of university course offerings. Since then, he has faced stiff criticism from students and faculty.
Sept. 18: As of Thursday afternoon, Inside Higher Ed had identified 37 faculty and staff members who are being harassed online for allegedly critical or insensitive social media posts about the death of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. So far, at least 24 of those employees have been terminated, suspended or put on administrative leave, including employees at Auburn University, Eastern New Mexico University–Roswell and Coastal Carolina University.
Sept. 16: Inside Higher Education reported that a coalition of California education unions and faculty associations is suing the Trump administration to challenge what they say is “the illegal and coercive use of civil rights laws to attack the University of California system and the rights of their members,” the American Association of University Professors announced.
Sept. 15: Penn State University will close its public broadcasting station, WPSU, in June 2026 due to financial challenges, The Centre Daily Times reported. That makes it one of the first university-affiliated stations to close after federal funding cuts to public media. WPSU is an NPR and PBS affiliate that serves central Pennsylvania and is funded by a mix of institutional, federal and private dollars. In a typical year, Penn State allocates $3.4 million to the station. But pressures on the university budget from inflation, enrollment challenges and state funding reductions pushed administrators to re-evaluate the station’s funding model. In June, PSU cut WPSU funding by $800,000, or about 9 percent of the station’s budget.
Sept. 15: The American Civil Liberties Union of Indiana sued Indiana State University leaders over their decision to stop funding student workers at a local LGBTQ+ nonprofit. The public university terminated funding for The Pride Center on Aug. 15, citing guidance from the U.S. Department of Justice on discrimination and federal funding, according to the civil rights group. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the center, argues that the move violated the First Amendment.
Sept. 12:
- Texas policymakers launched state House and Senate select committees tasked with issuing reports about “bias, discourse, and freedom of speech” on the state’s college campuses. Each chamber’s panel includes five Republican and two Democratic legislators. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick linked the new committees to the Sept. 10 murder of right-wing commentator and political organizer Charlie Kirk.
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The University of California, Berkeley has given the Trump administration the names of 160 faculty members and students as part of an investigation into “alleged antisemitic incidents”, a move a targeted scholar likened to a “practice from the McCarthy era,” The Guardian reported. UC Berkeley, a top-ranked public institution, sent a letter to affected members of campus last week disclosing that university lawyers had included their names in reports to the Department of Education’s office for civil rights.
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Penn State trustees approved contract revisions for President Neeli Bendapudi that include a $1 million increase in total compensation, according to the Centre Daily Times. The package, finalized in a 34-1 vote by university trustees, raises Bendapudi’s compensation to roughly $2.8 million. Her contract was extended to 2032. The move comes in the face of including budget cuts and plans to close seven campuses across Pennsylvania.
Sept. 10: The U.S. Department of Education announced it will terminate discretionary grant funding to hundreds of minority-serving institutions nationwide, eliminating approximately $350 million in federal support that colleges use to educate students from underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds, Diverse Issues in Higher Education reported. The Department announced its plans to redirect millions of federal dollars from grant programs it deems “discriminatory,” including those that support minority-serving institutions, to historically Black colleges and universities and tribal colleges. The funding is a one-time investment of $435 million in HBCUs and $60 million in tribal colleges and universities.
Sept. 9:
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Tufts University will be tuition-free for undergraduate students from the U.S. whose families make less than $150,000 a year in fall 2026, Tufts officials announced.
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Virginia Democrats want George Mason University board rector Charles Stimson to recuse himself from federal investigations into the university as well as discussions about the university president’s future, saying that his role at the Heritage Foundation, which recently released a report critical of GMU, presents a conflict of interest, Inside Higher Education reported.
Sept. 8: The University of Oregon is laying off another roughly 60 employees in an ongoing budget-cutting effort, the public institution’s senior leaders said in a message to faculty and staff. This will bring the total to 117 staff, faculty and high-level administrators laid off across the university this year. In addition, 59 vacant positions were eliminated. The university is facing a projected $25 million to $30 million deficit in in its fiscal 2026 general and education budget.
Sept. 3: Emory University is discontinuing its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices and programs following what interim President Justice Leah Ward Sears described as new federal mandates requiring higher education institutions to fundamentally alter or close DEI-focused initiatives. “I know Emory's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion efforts have meant a great deal to many, not just as programs, but as a statement about who we are and what we believe in,” Sears wrote. “As someone who has reaped the benefits of the needs these programs were meant to address, I know they were created with the best of intentions and staffed by talented, committed professionals.”
Sept. 2: The College Board announced it is discontinuing Landscape, a tool that has helped universities identify promising college applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds since 2016, marking the latest retreat from diversity efforts in higher education. Landscape provided colleges with socioeconomic data about students' high schools and neighborhoods without using race or ethnicity information.
Susan Jones is editor of the University Times. Reach her at suejones@pitt.edu or 724-244-4042.
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