Dive Brief:
- Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a powerful official who oversees the state’s Senate, is calling for lawmakers to increase oversight and scrutiny of colleges’ tenure policies and faculty governance groups.
- In preparation of the state’s next Senate session, Patrick released directives Thursday offering insight into his legislative priorities. He charged the Senate’s higher education committee with reporting on how the state’s public colleges are complying with SB 18, a law giving governing boards the sole power to grant tenure and codifying the post-tenure review process.
- The lieutenant governor further ordered lawmakers to recommend guidelines to oversee the role of faculty senates in higher education governance — something that has not traditionally been influenced by state lawmakers.
Dive Insight:
Texas has become a testing ground of sorts for Republican lawmakers looking to reshape higher education. Patrick’s list of priorities offers a glimpse into the issues that will be top of mind for state lawmakers.
Patrick has previously called for the elimination of tenure at public colleges in Texas. In 2023, a Texas bill proposed completely banning tenure but that provision failed to gain traction with House lawmakers. Gov. Greg Abbott signed an overhauled version of the bill that instead codified policies like post-tenure review.
The lieutenant governor is also an outspoken opponent of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, and he named a ban on DEI programs in higher education as one of his legislative priorities last year.
The state has since passed a law prohibiting public colleges from establishing diversity offices, hiring employees to do DEI work, or requiring DEI training for students or employees. Texas was one of the first to enact a DEI ban, and other states like Alabama have since followed suit.
Even before the law passed, some Texas universities paused their DEI policies over Republican criticism.
On Thursday, Patrick called for continued monitoring of public colleges’ compliance with the state DEI ban, which took effect Jan. 1.
The Republican author of the ban, State Sen. Brandon Creighton, recently told the leaders of Texas’ seven university systems to detail their compliance with the law by May 3, ahead of a senate education committee hearing.
Creighton raised concerns that colleges were attempting to circumvent the ban. Since his directive, some institutions in the University of Texas system have laid off DEI staff.
Patrick also called for lawmakers to review public colleges’ free speech and antisemitism policies, two hot-button issues for education-focused lawmakers. Last month, Abbott addressed both topics in an executive order directing colleges to update their policies to address antisemitism on campus, though one free expression group said it could chill campus speech.
The lieutenant governor left open the possibility of issuing further directives before the next legislative session starts in January.
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