Texas A&M University (TAMU), originally called the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, is a public university in College Station, Texas. One of the largest research institutions in the United States, it is still beholden to the whims of the Texas state government.
In November, the school's Board of Regents passed sweeping reforms banning all race and gender ideology "advocacy" in lessons without their prior approval, forcing professors in all of the soft sciences and the arts to submit their curriculum for review.
Under the direction of MAGA Republican Governor Greg Abbott, the Texas GOP-controlled legislature passed several laws to attack the "woke agenda" that they claim exists in all academia, targeting anything that doesn't support their own White supremacist and Christian nationalist agenda.
TAMU's compliance with those laws has led to the banning of the work of one of the foundational figures in Western philosophy—in a philosophy class.
As reported by industry publication Inside Higher Education, at least 200 courses in the Texas A&M University College of Arts and Sciences were flagged or canceled for gender-related or race-related content after faculty were required to submit core-curriculum syllabi for administrative review in December.
And the review still isn't complete.
Philosophy professor Martin Peterson was told to remove works by Plato from his Spring course Contemporary Moral Problems. Via an email from philosophy department chair Kristi Sweet, he was given two options: remove "modules on race and gender ideology, and the Plato readings that may include these" or be reassigned to teach a different philosophy course.
Peterson wrote in his response to Sweet:
"Your decision to bar a philosophy professor from teaching Plato is unprecedented…"
"You are making Texas A&M famous—but not for the right reasons."
Plato founded The Academy—in essence the first Western university—in Athens around 387 BCE. The Academy was a groundbreaking research and teaching institution focused on philosophy, math, and science.
Plato also serves as the bridge between the teachings of Socrates (his teacher) and Aristotle (his student). His importance to philosophy and academia as a whole cannot be denied.
The idea of banning Plato's work in a philosophy course was seen as absurd.
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In the Texas subReddit, Texans—including TAMU alumni—sounded off.
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The Texas A&M chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) condemned the university’s decision to censor Plato.
In their statement, they wrote:
"At a public university, this action raises serious legal concerns, including viewpoint discrimination and violations of constitutionally protected academic freedom."
"Beyond the legal implications, the moral stakes are profound. Silencing 2,500-year-old ideas from one of the world’s most influential thinkers betrays the mission of higher education and denies students the opportunity to engage critically with the foundations of Western thought."
"A research university that censors Plato abandons its obligation to truth, inquiry, and the public trust—and should not be regarded as a serious institution of higher learning. We are deeply saddened to witness the decline of one of Texas’s great universities."
Lindsie Rank, director of campus rights advocacy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), said in their statement:
"Texas A&M now believes Plato doesn’t belong in an introductory philosophy course. This is what happens when the board of regents gives university bureaucrats veto power over academic content."
"The board didn’t just invite censorship, they unleashed it with immediate and predictable consequences. You don’t protect students by banning 2,400-year-old philosophy."
Professor Peterson told the Houston Chronicle:
"I’m not picking a fight, I’m just doing my job. I’m teaching contemporary moral issues. Some contemporary moral issues are related to sex and gender, race, etc..."
"I wouldn’t be doing my job if I were to exclude those topics from my syllabus because they’re controversial."
Ultimately, Professor Peterson chose to revise his syllabus, rather than be reassigned. He replaced the censored Plato material with lectures on free speech and academic freedom.
He told Inside Higher Education:
"I’m thinking of using this as a case study and assign some of the texts written by journalists covering the story to discuss. I want [students] to know what is being censored."
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