Solidarity with education workers and students in Texas whose critical scholarship, DEI initiatives, tenure, and jobs are under imminent threat

This branch notes that:

• On 11th April 2023, Texas Senate passed the anti-academic freedom Bill (SB16) that restricts the scholarship, teaching, jobs, academic freedom, and activism of critical scholars who focus on gender, race, class, sexuality, and social justice more generally and prohibits critical theory-based content in classrooms and research  [link] [link];
• further Bills are being considered by Texas Senate this week: the anti-DEI Senate Bill (SB17) seeks to end and ban Diversity, Equity and Inclusion-related training, projects/initiatives, and jobs – with the imposition of financial penalties for non-compliance, and the anti-tenure Senate Bill (SB18) seeks to end tenure or any type of permanent status for untenured academic workers after 1st September 2023;
• the Bills seek to create hostility and division between students and staff, turning the former into informants against scholars of critical theory – creating a devastating atmosphere of fear among workers who could lose their jobs as a result of complaints;
• the law is being used as a tool to make entire fields of study that oppose social oppression and exploitation illegal in the state of Texas;
• education workers and students in Texas oppose these attacks [link] [link];
• all of the above is taking place within a wider context of hostility against already marginalised groups such as migrants [link].

This branch believes that:

• a society in which scholarship, tenure, and action against oppression and exploitation are banned is unsafe for migrant, disabled, racialised, LGBTQI+, working class, women, and other marginalised education workers, students, and the public more generally;
• the students and workers who are already marginalised will be further silenced, discriminated against, and stopped from joining higher education;
• universities and colleges are spaces for critical thinking, and there can be no critical thinking without critical theory and practice;
• if Texas Senate members are successful in passing and implementing the three Bills, this would incentivise other politicians and groups to pursue the same agenda elsewhere.

This branch resolves to:

• publicise the situation in Texas and follow @aaup_utAustin, @TFA, their blog, and/or news stories;
• stand in solidarity with the workers, students, and their supporters who are opposing the legislative attacks on education in Texas;
• condemn in the strongest possible terms the concerted targeting of the workers and students of critical scholarship, the already marginalised current and potential workers and students, and other groups that will be affected by these legislative changes;
• call on UCU’s National Executive Committee to write a public statement of solidarity with the education workers and students in Texas;
• call on UCU’s National Executive Committee members to liaise with education trade unions in Texas and actively pursue practical strategies for supporting union members and students in their fight against these legislative attacks and threats of redundancy;
• call on University of Birmingham’s Vice Chancellor to condemn the assault on academic freedom, DEI, and tenure in Texas.

Motion adopted 18 April 2023