Texas A&M University announced on Friday that it would be eliminating its Women's and Gender Studies degree program, citing "limited student interest" and university policies. The university said that students currently enrolled in the program would be allowed to complete their degrees.
"For 150 years, Texas A&M has led the way for higher education in Texas, our mission unchanged," Interim President Tommy Williams said in a statement. "Strong oversight and standards protect academic integrity and restore public trust, guaranteeing that a degree from Texas A&M means something to our students and the people who will hire them. That has been our focus through this process and will remain our focus as we move forward."
College of Arts and Sciences Interim Dean Simon North and Senior Executive Associate Cynthia Werner reportedly sent an email obtained by The Texas Tribune to faculty informing them of the decision.
"We know this is devastating news," the administrators said, according to The Texas Tribune. "One of the primary duties of university administrators is to be good stewards of public money. Even the smallest programs require ongoing investment in faculty time, staff support, and administrative oversight."
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Texas A&M offered a bachelor of arts degree, a bachelor of science degree, an undergraduate minor and a graduate certificate in the program, according to the newspaper. The outlet reported that the program has 25 students seeking a major and 31 seeking a minor.
The university launched a comprehensive course review for the Spring 2026 semester, examining 5,400 syllabi to ensure compliance with its "Civil Rights Protections and Compliance" and "Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure" policies. It said that hundreds of syllabi across 17 colleges and schools within the university had been modified to meet policy requirements. Additionally, the university gave deans of schools and colleges the opportunity to request exemptions for non-core curriculum courses. The deans forwarded 54 courses to the university's president, and ultimately 48 exceptions were granted.
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The review was launched after a recording of a student allegedly being removed from a class for questioning transgender-related course content went viral. In the video, a female student asked the professor if it was legal to teach gender ideology, citing President Donald Trump's executive orders. The lecturer said the student was under a "misconception" that the course content was illegal and later said it was "time for you to leave."
The video prompted the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents to call for an audit of its courses.
"The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents will not tolerate actions that damage the reputation of our institutions," the school system said at the time. "The Board has called for immediate and decisive steps to ensure that what happened this week will not be repeated. To that end, the Regents have asked the Chancellor to audit every course and ensure full compliance with all applicable laws."
In November 2024, the board of regents moved to eliminate 52 "low-producing" minors and certificate programs, including its LGBTQ Studies minor. The LGBTQ Studies minor, which was under the Women and Gender Studies Department, was initially approved in the fall of 2022. The college requested to keep the program but was denied by the university's provost.
Fox News Digital reached out to Texas A&M for comment.
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman-Diamond and Rachel del Guidice contributed to this report.
