Tyranny seldom triumphs on its own. While it requires brigades of bigots and losers, tyranny also needs an apathetic opposition — an opposition so unwilling to act, it might as well be complicit. Conveniently for President Donald Trump and the State of Texas, the UT San Antonio administration is more than willing to roll over when asked.
The university plans to fold its Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies Department with the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies, effective Sept. 1— a harmful and unnecessary concession. The dissolving department offers a certificate in Mexican American Studies along with undergraduate degrees in African American Studies; Mexican American Studies; and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. These programs emphasize community engagement. On the other hand, the Department of Bicultural-Bilingual Studies focuses on equity, education and bilingualism within education.
These departments focus on distinct aspects of culture and aim to provide different outcomes for their students. On their face, the separate qualities should provide enough reason to halt departmental integration; however, the rapid rollback of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the state and nation gives UT San Antonio’s change a truly haunting backdrop.
Beyond the horrific job cuts that have swept the nation in the name of eliminating “woke” culture, universities across Texas have announced plans to consolidate programs relating to race and gender studies. UT Austin announced a scheme to combine four related departments and will reevaluate which degree programs are “necessary” moving forward. Further, Texas A&M completely removed its gender studies program.
With other universities throwing so much progress to the wind, it is hard to ignore UT San Antonio’s change as merely a coincidence. According to the Dean of Education and Human Development, there are no plans to change faculty positions, advisors and degree pathways, but no plans were made to consult faculty on the merger at all. Moreover, the university has failed to address what the new department will look like.
If curriculum is changed, faculty are dismissed or programs are diluted, UT San Antonio will have a hard time being taken seriously. University administration will prove that when the going gets tough, the Roadrunner spirit bends to authority. A university responsible for so many students should not decide what constitutes higher education depending on which political party sits in the White House.
These programs were created to help heal existential community divisions in the U.S. and recognize historical faults to move progress forward. Tearing them down is complacency in the face of injustice. Tyranny and authoritarianism are not ideas that live in the past but threats that press on the future. Repair higher education; reverse this decision.
