The University of Houston Downtown (UHD) has removed an anti-racism pledge from its English Department website that critics have claimed is a form of compelled speech.
Last month, Campus Reform posted a picture of the UHD Department of English Anti-Racist Statement, which recognized that UHD is on Native American land and acknowledged "that systemic racism harms Black and African-descendant, indigenous, Latin American, Latinx and Latine, Asian, Asian American, American Arab, Middle Eastern, North African, and multi-racial persons, and we are all worse because of it."
"We are aware that we are complicit in systems of oppression through our individual and collective actions," the statement continued. "We reject white supremacy and its ideologies of racism, xenophobia, misogyny, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism."
The statement, which has been scrubbed from the website as of Monday, also claims that faculty "uphold social justice" in their lives and work as educators and "embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)."
Adam Ellwanger, a UHD professor in the department, had openly criticized the statement and claimed "emotional blackmail" from "activist academics" had pushed most public universities to publish a statement promising to abide by a "radical leftist agenda."
"Whenever my department discussed the anti-racism statement, I explicitly stated my opposition and suggested compromises that might allow my colleagues to craft a statement that didn't profess to speak for everyone (which amounts to compelled speech for those who disagree)," Ellwanger wrote.
"Ironically, my colleagues had precious little patience when it came to "tolerance" or "inclusion" of a minority perspective among the faculty. The result was an unhinged, hysterical statement that announces a fictional consensus," he added.
Ellwanger also voiced concern that anti-racism statements could act as a "covert way" to justify lowering the annual performance scores of dissenting professors, ultimately helping to purge the faculty of "political dissidents."
The entire University of Houston System (UHS) recently removed DEI statements from hiring practices following a memorandum from the office of Governor Gregg Abbott.
Abbott's chief of staff, Gardner Pate subsequently penned a memo to public university officials reminding schools of the new law instructing institutions to hire only on the merit qualification. Pate also said DEI is a "forbidden" and "illegal" attempt to rebrand employment discrimination.
Texas A&M and Texas Tech have also removed their DEI hiring requirements.
Other public universities in Texas, including Texas State and the University of Texas systems, said they are reviewing their DEI policies after the governor's directive.
