Six weeks into the spring semester, the Texas Tech University System’s Board of Trustees met Thursday without publicly answering a central question facing professors: What exactly can they teach about race, gender and sexuality?
New president Brandon Creighton upended long-standing academic norms late last year when he directed faculty and staff to recognize that there are only two genders, male and female. They are prohibited from promoting the idea that individuals are inherently racist or sexist; and directors are required to approve flagged course content. Since then, classes have been canceled, readings have been removed or shortened, and teachers have been required to sign statements agreeing not to teach certain material unless approved by the board of trustees.
Texas Tech officials declined to say how many courses were affected by Creighton’s order, having previously said the board of trustees would consider the course recommendations at its Feb. 26 meeting and make a final decision on what can be taught.
A black-and-white protest flyer has been circulating on campus for weeks, promoting a Feb. 26 rally at Texas Tech University, Lubbock, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It changed the university’s slogan “From here, anything is possible” to: “From here, everything is possible” [REDACTED]” Under the revised motto, the flier accused the university of advancing a “political agenda” and urged students not to “let Texas Tech betray you.”
The board met about 350 miles away on the Texas Tech University Health Science Center campus in Dallas and spent much of the morning hearing campus updates and recognitions.
Texas Tech University System Chancellor Brandon Creighton addresses his employees during a meeting of the Texas Tech University Board of Trustees at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Dallas on February 26, 2026. Shelby Tauber writes for The Texas Tribune
Creighton attended his first school board meeting as principal, where he began by reflecting on his first 99 days on the job before turning the meeting over to the campus president.
“I’ve seen firsthand the impact of this system, not just geographically but also in terms of impact,” he said. “The Texas Tech system makes a difference in people’s lives every day, and our employees make it all possible. That’s what makes this system so special, and frankly, that’s why I’m so grateful to be here again.”
Officials at Midwestern State University are boasting that their men’s soccer team has won the NCAA Division II national championship.
Texas Tech University President Lawrence Schovanec highlighted the choir’s performance at the recent Statewide Music Conference in San Antonio.
“Last week, I was on the phone with a reporter from The New York Times, and he asked me, ‘What positive stories should we tell about higher education?’ and I said, ‘Well, this is going to surprise you, but I want to talk about the Texas Tech University Chorale,’” Showanek said.
Thousands of people attended the show, he said.
“It was so moving, almost as moving as a sporting event,” Skvanek joked.
Texas Tech University Health Science Center President Lori Rice-Spearman discusses a rural breast cancer screening effort that provides more than 2,700 tests in West Texas. One patient, a 50-year-old woman from Roscoe, 230 miles west of Dallas, had never had a mammogram, she said.
“She underwent tests that revealed abnormalities in both of her breasts, which led to a diagnosis and life-saving treatment,” Rice-Spearman said.
The committee also advanced major construction projects, including an approximately $168 million academic complex and a $128 million agricultural building at Texas Tech University, as well as a medical facility in El Paso.
The Academic, Clinical and Student Affairs Committee lasted only a few minutes and had no public discussion about the course content review.
Regent Shelley Sweatt provided a brief overview of the items approved on the consent agenda, noting that they include promotions, tenure decisions and several new degree programs that have been “carefully discussed and considered” by the regent and campus leadership to meet workforce and student needs.
They include a new master’s degree in renewable energy from Texas Tech University, which drew scrutiny from the conservative website Texas Scorecard earlier this week. The publication questioned the need for the plan.
The directors then spent nearly five hours meeting privately in executive session. Just before 4 p.m., they returned and approved three items: changes to board employment rules related to Senate Bill 37, a contract for the El Paso electronic medical records project and a real estate purchase.
They made no mention of the curriculum review and did not say whether it was being conducted in secret. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Board will be held on May 7.
Texas Tech University students and faculty hold signs and chant during a rally at Memorial Circle on campus in Lubbock on February 26, 2026, to protest recent curriculum changes by Tech System President Brandon Creighton. Jacob Lujan writes for The Texas Tribune
Back in Lubbock, 50 to 80 students and professors rallied against the curriculum review.
Tara Findley, vice president of the Texas Tech University Democrats, said organizers staged the protest during the board meeting to put pressure on them and raise awareness among what she described as a less politically active student group. Administrators have told professors not to bring up course content review in class, records show.
“They’re not transparent about it at all,” Findley said of administrators.
Findley, a junior majoring in public relations and political science, said she initially planned to invite representatives from transgender rights groups to speak to her class, but her professors were concerned that it might violate the new rules. Instead, Findlay invited a representative from the American Association of University Professors, a group that opposes curriculum review as an infringement of academic freedom.
Dressed in academic regalia, Andrew Martin, an art professor and president of the Texas Tech University chapter of the AAUP, took to a megaphone to say the review undermined the university’s educational mission.
“We all need to learn more about the world as it is, and no one group can determine reality for us,” Martin said. “The concerns raised by our students are real and now is the time for all of us to be vigilant.”
Andrew Martin, a Texas Tech University faculty member and president of the local AAUP chapter, speaks at a rally on the Lubbock Tech campus. Jacob Lujan writes for The Texas Tribune
According to Creighton’s Dec. 1 memo and accompanying flowchart, teachers who believe their course materials address instruction on race and gender must first determine whether the content is “relevant and necessary” to classroom instruction. If the content is not required for professional licensure, certification, or patient and client care, the instructor must disclose the content to the department chair, dean, and provost. The Provost then decides whether to recommend the material to the Board of Trustees for approval. Faculty who do not seek review should remove this content or may face disciplinary action.
Other public university systems have adopted similar restrictions in recent months.
The Texas A&M University System’s Board of Trustees adopted a policy stating that “no system academic courses will promote racial or gender ideologies, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity,” unless they are upper-division or graduate courses with written approval from the university president.
Last week, the University of Texas Regents approved a rule requiring its institutions to ensure that students graduate without taking what it called “unnecessarily controversial subjects” and that faculty take a “broad and balanced approach” when discussing those subjects.
Many university leaders justified the restrictions by citing SB 37, a new state law that expands the board’s authority over hiring, discipline and curriculum. The law requires the board to periodically review the general education curriculum to ensure that the curriculum is foundational and prepares students for civic and professional lives. It does not explicitly prohibit or require prior approval for specific courses on race, gender, and sexuality.
Creighton drafted the law during his final legislative session as a Republican state senator before becoming chancellor.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus to provide higher education coverage.
Disclosure: The Texas A&M University System, Texas Tech University and Texas Tech Health Science Center have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial backers play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find their full list here.
