From Inside Higher Ed: The University of Texas at Austin will fold its gender studies and ethnic studies programs into a new department this September, The Austin American-Statesman reported. The newly established Department for Social and Cultural Analysis Studies will comprise African and African diaspora studies; Mexican American and Latina/o studies; women’s, gender and sexuality studies; and American studies.
In a meeting with the affected department chairs Thursday, Interim Dean David Sosa did not announce any immediate firings, faculty told the Statesman, nor did he discuss potential future layoffs... Earlier this month, Texas A&M University abruptly shuttered its women’s and gender studies program to comply with board policies that limit discussion of race and gender. The efforts are part of a broader trend in red states to curb what conservative politicians see as “woke” ...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/quick-takes/2026/02/13/ut-austin-folds-gender-ethnic-studies-single-department.
From Inside Higher Ed: In statehouses, bill titles rarely tell the full story of what’s in them, and the legislation itself can contain seemingly unrelated provisions. This trend is playing out right now in Kansas, where Republicans are using a budget bill to move forward a host of nonfinancial public higher ed measures that have worried faculty and could mean millions in cuts for public universities. But Republicans, who control both chambers, appear undeterred. The state’s Democratic governor signed a budget bill into law last year that directed colleges to eliminate positions and activities related to “diversity, equity and inclusion.”
Among other provisions, this year’s legislation, called House Bill 2434, contains a mechanism—with garbled wording—that’s apparently intended to withhold $2 million from each of the state’s six public universities until they prove to the State Finance Council that they don’t “require or constrain students to enroll in a DEI-CRT-related course” to earn a degree...
The nearly 400-page budget legislation also says that, at each of the public universities, “any tenured faculty member who is placed on a one-year improvement plan during fiscal year 2027 and does not satisfactorily complete” it “is subject to dismissal, reassignment or other personnel actions as determined by the provost.” Explicitly, professors won’t be allowed to receive a second year to improve...
Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/diversity/2026/02/18/kansas-may-cut-millions-colleges-dei-gen-ed.
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