The Texas Tech University System is embroiled in a legal battle over its recent policies restricting instruction on race, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Faculty groups have filed a lawsuit against Chancellor Brandon Creighton and the Board of Regents, arguing that the policies violate constitutional rights and suppress critical educational content.

The lawsuit, filed by the Texas American Association of University Professors-American Federation of Teachers and the national American Association of University Professors, seeks to block the enforcement of two controversial memos issued by Creighton. These memos have sparked widespread concern among educators and students alike.

Controversial Memos Spark Legal Action

The first memo, issued on December 1, 2026 mandated that faculty submit course materials related to race, sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation for review and approval by the Board of Regents. The second memo, released on April 9, 2026 went further, ordering the phase-out of academic programs centered on sexual orientation and gender identity. It also required professors in core and lower-level undergraduate courses to use alternate materials if readings, assignments, or lectures included these topics.

The lawsuit alleges that these restrictions violate the First Amendment by allowing Texas Tech officials to suppress viewpoints they dislike. It also claims that the policies violate the Fourteenth Amendment by leaving professors unsure what they can teach without facing discipline. Additionally, the complaint argues that the memos discriminate against Black faculty by singling out instruction about Black history, racial inequality, and efforts to remedy it.

Impact on Curriculum and Student Learning

The policies apply across the five-institution system, which includes Texas Tech University, two health sciences centers, Angelo State University, and Midwestern State University. The lawsuit provides new accounts of how the restrictions have been applied, highlighting significant impacts on curriculum and student learning.

For instance, a professor at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center in Lubbock was reportedly told that medical students could not participate in or observe care for transgender patients, even when those patients sought treatment for unrelated conditions. Another professor was informed that a Holocaust course would have to leave the core curriculum if it included instruction on gay and bisexual victims of the Nazis. The complaint also mentions that regents barred professors from teaching Plato’s Republic and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ National Book Award-winning book, Between the World and Me.

The lawsuit further alleges that an instructor at the Texas Tech Health Sciences Center El Paso was told not to use the word “disparity” in class, affecting their ability to adequately teach students about health disparities in El Paso County. These disparities include a higher prevalence of diabetes, higher rates of cervical cancer mortality among women along the Texas-Mexico border, and a pregnancy-related mortality rate among Black women that is 2.5 times higher than that of white women.

Inconsistent Application of Exceptions

The lawsuit underscores the claim that Texas Tech’s stated exceptions were confusing and inconsistently applied. Creighton’s memos stated that some material could still be taught when needed for patient care or professional credentials. However, the complaint says the Lubbock professor was initially required to remove material about transgender and intersex patients from a medical school course, even though the professor considered it vital to the course and necessary for medical certification exams.

The professor was later told that medical students could treat transgender patients during third- and fourth-year clinical rotations, but only after some students’ rotations had already passed. This inconsistency highlights the confusion and potential harm caused by the restrictive policies.

The faculty groups are asking a judge to declare Creighton’s memos unconstitutional and block the system from enforcing them or any similar policy. The lawsuit argues that the restrictions will continue to harm faculty members and deprive students of instruction they would otherwise receive.

A Texas Tech System spokeswoman, Erin Wilson, rejected the lawsuit’s allegations, stating that the university’s commitment to academic integrity and the First Amendment rights of students and faculty will not be distracted by lawsuits. She emphasized that teaching about civil rights and historical events, including Nazi crimes, is permitted and that instructors are not required to redact or remove works when sexual orientation or gender identity appears in adopted, industry-standard text or as an incidental reference.

Wilson also pushed back on several allegations in the complaint, asserting that the board of regents has not altered or rejected any course at Texas Tech’s health sciences centers. Creighton has previously defended the restrictions as necessary to comply with state and federal law and ensure students are provided with “degrees of value.”

The lawsuit argues that Creighton’s memos go beyond what lawmakers ultimately passed in Senate Bill 37, a 2026 law that gave governor-appointed regents more authority over curriculum. The faculty groups claim that Creighton imposed restrictions that were not part of the final law, motivated by racial discrimination.

The complaint points to Creighton’s broader record as a lawmaker to support its claim. It mentions that after the George Floyd protests, Creighton opposed efforts to remove Confederate monuments and symbols, backed unsuccessful restrictions on teaching called critical race theory at public universities and colleges, and authored Senate Bill 17, the state’s ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and programs in higher education.

The faculty groups are represented by Lambda Legal, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP. The lawsuit highlights the broader context of restrictive policies on course content involving race, gender identity, or sexual orientation in Texas university systems, including the Texas A&M University System.