Unwritten Policies Sow Faculty Fears. Are They Enforceable?

""We have not put out any written guidance on that, but it's tied to that executive order that the president put out, and then also the directive of the governor, and so that's what makes it law for us to have to follow here at Angelo State University," Hawkins said, referencing orders by President Donald Trump and Gov. Greg Abbott that recognize only two genders-male and female. "But there's no other written types of documentation that we plan to be putting out that's tied to that.""

"Angelo State, one of five institutions in the Texas Tech University system, has been in the news for weeks over murky new directives, passed down telephone-style from university leaders to deans to faculty members, that prohibit faculty from acknowledging more than two gender identities. The rules have confusing and widespread implications; for example, faculty are unsure whether they can display a pride flag in their own office, field student questions about transgender identity or teach health-care students how to care for someone who has had gender-confirmation surgery. The Oct. 10 town hall didn't clear anything up."

Angelo State University president Ronnie Hawkins told faculty at an Oct. 10 town hall that new policies prohibiting discussion of transgender identity in class would not be put in writing. Hawkins tied the directive to an executive order from the president and a directive from the governor and said the university would not issue additional written guidance. University leaders communicated murky directives through administrators that bar acknowledging more than two gender identities. Faculty reported confusion about displaying pride flags, answering student questions about transgender identity, and teaching care for patients after gender-confirmation surgery. State data rules cited do not limit academic instruction.

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