Gov. Abbott: Texas is targeting professors over ‘leftist ideologies’ | Higher Ed Dive

This audio is auto-generated. Please let us know if you have feedback. Dive Brief: Texas is “targeting professors who are more focused on pushing leftist ideologies rather than preparing students to lead our nation,” Gov. Greg Abbott said in a social media post Sunday. The Republican governor lambasted “indoctrination” at all levels of education in response to news coverage of the University of Texas at Austin’s decision to remove Art Markman , a psychology professor, from his role as senior vice provost for academic affairs. Markman said in a LinkedIn post last week that university leadership removed him from his provost position over “ideological differences” but did not give further detail.  Abbott’s comments come after two new Texas laws began dramatically reshaping academic governance and free speech at public colleges and a wave of high-profile faculty firings over classroom instruction and personal politics swept the state’s institutions. Dive Insight: As of Sept. 1, Texas law began to reduce the influence of faculty over institutional decisions and academic oversight — including defanging faculty senates — and shift that power to political appointees, such as the newly created role of higher education ombudsman . Later that month, Texas lawmakers created select committees
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