Christy Mag Uidhir will be giving up his position as professor of philosophy at the University of Houston.
Readers may recall that the administration at the University of Houston had adopted the “indoctrination narrative”, a pretext for violating the academic freedom of professors to teach what and how they judge they ought to. Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, Daniel P. O’Connor, asked all faculty in the college to complete a form declaring that they’re not indoctrinating their students.
At the time, Professor Mag Uidhir stated that he had told the dean and his department chair he would not be completing any such form.
He now writes:
I have notified the University of Houston that I will be resigning my position as Professor of Philosophy effective June 1st, 2026. Not sure what I’ll be doing next, but I do know that whatever it is, I won’t be doing it in Texas.
Professor Mag Uidhir is one of several philosophers to leave public universities in Texas over threats to academic freedom.
Linda Radzik is leaving Texas A&M for Binghamton. She said:
I’m moving because of the censorship policies at Texas A&M. My colleagues and students there have been wonderful. They are doing their best in very difficult times. The Board of Regents has broken trust with them.
Martin Peterson, who was ordered to remove readings by Plato from his philosophy course, is also leaving Texas A&M.
Yet another philosopher, Elek Lane, turned down an offer from Texas A&M because, he said, “Politicians, not professors, decide what is taught in Texas classrooms.”
Elsewhere in the state, Texas State University recently fired a professor for a talk he gave on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And Texas Tech recently implemented draconian restrictions on teaching material related to sex, gender, and sexual orientation.
Professor Mag Uidhir works in aesthetics. You can learn more about his writings at his site.
Texas Exodus
What explains why we have yet to (publicly) see politics encroach at the flagship university institution of Texas, UT Austin?
I asked this of a full professor of philosophy at UT Austin in the last week. They said they did not know, but guessed that it might have to do with the state not wanting to damage its flagship. Perhaps (and this is just a guess) it has something to do with David Sosa being interim Dean.
Here is an overview of the situation at UT Austin: https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/19/texas-university-ut-regents-unnecessarily-controversial-subjects/
UT has also been engaging in a bit more carrot and less stick than some of the others. They’ve created a “School of Civic Leadership” (https://civicleadership.utexas.edu/) to hire people across academic disciplines (including philosophy) whose work they see as potentially consonant with things the legislature wants.
“potentially consonant” here meaning severely right wing, and anti-everything the current right wing is anti, including all the groups of people they are anti
They hired multiple historians of political thought from Berkeley this year, and have a senior offer out in that field as well. None of these folks are “severely right wing.”
What is this conclusion based on?
Here’s the list of faculty: https://civicleadership.utexas.edu/people/
Which are the ones that are “severely right wing, and anti-everything the current right wing is anti, including all the groups of people they are anti”?
I know that every individual has their own sense of risk depending on many legitimate considerations; I don’t mean to question the decisions of these particular philosophers. I would, however, like to see more stories of faculty who are sticking around in places like TX, organizing with their colleagues, and pushing back. I’ve met fired faculty from public Texas universities who are organizing defense campaigns to win their jobs back and hold the line on academic freedom and freedom of speech. If we hold the line in Texas we hold it for the rest of the country.
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Speaking anonymously here because I do think it’s important that those of us staying do not make ourselves low hanging fruit for the GOP bureaucrats trying to pick us off:
I’m part of a large network of faculty across schools in Texas that have been organizing since August. Incidentally, many of the people leading grassroots efforts at their Texas institutions are philosophers . This work is strategic and done behind closed (virtual and in person) doors, with select public events like the 8 days of teach ins and sit ins organized through AAUP Texas last month.
Many of us do see the value in staying, if we are privileged enough to have things like citizenship or a green card, tenure, and resources to withstand this kind of stress. I don’t think any of us see that as a normative expectation but rather something worthwhile for the willing and able so that students in Texas who, for instance, would not be able to get tuition remission or scholarships outside the state can still get a legitimate education and cultivate powers of critical reflection and creativity. Hopefully some will use those powers to reflect on our current social condition and fight for change.
Punk rock.
I wonder if anything similar is happening in the STEM departments? Sadly, I doubt the powers that be will care all that much about resignations in the humanities.
I mean, I guess I see this as a positive for the job market: another line has opened up for junior faculty! (I don’t agree with Texas’ approach. But this is nice for those looking for a job.)
You assume that the administration will allow these departments to keep these lines and hire replacements. In reality, it is more likely that they are counting on tenured faculty resigning so that they can shrink the faculty.
Does it count as student indoctrination when a chemistry professor tells his class, in no uncertain terms, that Iron + Water + Oxygen –> Hydrated Iron Oxide (Rust)?