As political backlash intensifies in the US South, more college educators are thinking about their own academic futures. Author Heather Houser, a professor in the University of Texas at Austin’s English department. She has certainly poured her heart and soul into her work there for the past 14 years. Yet an unprecedented surge of anti-educator legislation across the country is upending that landscape. What’s more, Texas Governor Greg Abbott recently signed a bill that outlaws diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in higher education.
In her profession, Houser taught American literature and environmental humanities. In her written testimony, she noted her concerns about the trajectory of higher education in Texas are increasing. “I had been looking to leave UT Austin and Texas for many years,” she noted. Her passion for enacting change propelled her to take the leap and depart. She was concerned that providing students with the critical education they need—particularly on topics such as environmental and social justice—would become increasingly difficult.
The political climate’s ramifications extend beyond Texas. According to a recent, informal survey conducted by the American Association of Professors, nearly a quarter of Texas professors have applied for teaching jobs in other states. This is a trend that we’ve seen develop over the last two years. An additional quarter intend to begin looking for jobs out of Texas within the next year. This trend is indicative of sentiments that are common among educators in other deep south states like Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. For similar reasons, thousands of teachers have been pushed to rethink their career choices.
Sample bill SB 17 would require DEI offices to be closed by January 2024. It prohibits any effort to promote diversity, equity, or inclusion through the consideration of race, ethnicity, and gender in educational environments. This shift has created a chilling effect among the faculty, including those willing to stand up against this attack and teach social justice–themed courses.
Mark Welsh III, the president of the University of Texas at Austin, acknowledged the impact of these legislative changes when he confirmed the removal of key figures in the college of arts and sciences. The university did the right thing and immediately fired both the dean of the school and the head of the department. This response was a direct result of the changing political landscape.
Closer to home, the impact of SB 17 can already be seen in Texas course offerings. Watson, a faculty member who teaches courses on Gay Rights and the Constitution, shared his alarm. Here’s why he’s concerned about what this law means. “You cannot teach a robust class on jurisprudence without addressing critical legal studies, critical race theory, and critical gender theory. You just can’t,” Watson said.
Watson’s testimony focused on how, in their efforts to change course descriptions, the School of Education moved forward without consulting faculty members or following procedures. These changes are scrubbing critical conversations around race, gender and queer identity from the curriculum. “We would likely see specific classes taken out of the catalog,” Watson warned, reflecting a broader apprehension among educators about academic freedom under the new regulations.
In many ways, Houser is preparing for the biggest change of her life. She’s moving for a pay cut and learning Dutch to become accustomed to an entirely new educational system. She is becoming just the latest in a growing exodus of professors abandoning what they describe as an academic dystopia.
“Part was just a desire for personal change,” Houser explained, “but much bigger was my concern about higher education and the direction it was going.” Her exit underscores an alarming wave of faculty exodus. Perhaps unsurprisingly then, many educators and advocates alike feel disillusioned by the current political climate and what it has wrought on foundational educational values.
The American Association of Professors recently completed their own survey, and the results are shocking. Fears over academic freedom and adverse institutional policies are pushing the largest share of educators out the door. Among nearly 4,000 faculty members surveyed from nine southern states, many sounded off with attitudes like those of Houser and Watson.