On 2/12/2026 at 9:48 AM, Nivek said:

(I posted this in DT as well. I want you to see an early phishing attempt to groom a minor)

https://www.kingwood.com/news/news_synopsis.php?id=96960

This man was my daughter's teacher at FBMS. He tried to reach out to us, talking about what a great student my daughter was and how he was putting together an afterschool group for additional tutoring. My daughter did not need tutoring as she is pretty decent at mathematics. This was sent to my wife:

Hey Ms. NIVEK,

 I wanted to let you know that DAUGHTER is doing really well in math; I know she’s missed quite a bit of school due to the ankle, but she has nothing to worry about when it comes to the math lessons.  The curriculum department has taken the new math TEKS and in an effort to bring up the lowest performing students in the district, they have slowed down the pacing for even the middle performing students, not to mention the top achievers. For example, we’ve been learning how to manipulate integers the past two weeks, which is essentially adding, subtracting, multiplying, or dividing numbers, and this week we’re just double checking again that we all know how to do it. DAUGHTER could do that in her sleep; she’s incredibly bright and you should have no concerns about her doing well in my class. Whenever she has had a DOL that was anything less than a 4/5, I can say with confidence that the issue was not with DAUGHTER, It was likely due to wording of the question which is meant to mimic the STAAR test (something that we've started to address more consistently) or likely because we spent too much time addressing student behaviors from a few boys in her period. Although it is a little late in the year, I believe I have finally addressed the issue with those boys and their parents and fifth period should be smooth sailing from now on, as long as I can make it through my 3 On Level periods before DAUGHTER's class; the apathy in those classes is expected, but the lower performing students have taken up gaslighting as a professional job and since teachers aren't getting any support with the worst behavioral students, even behavior issues that normally most teachers can handle easily now take up a significant portion of the day. I had a heart episode last Friday in DAUGHTER's period and it happened again yesterday, and I finally had to prioritize my health and leave early to go to the ER. It's likely that there will be lots of blood pressure or panic attack issues at school this year, with staff and students alike, and I'm really sorry that all this is affecting the students' learning, which is my priority and is supposedly the districts priority, too. 

 

Also, I am putting together an informal tutorial for a select number of my students; it is not required or mandatory, and I'm only inviting the students who have consistently shown that their academics are a priority or that they care enough to try. These tutorials will be based on lesson plans created by me personally, and I'll be pooling the lessons and student work provided by the curriculum department to identify the goals the district has, but then teaching the material in a way best suited to my students, which is often very different from the ideal 15% of students the new district system is targeted to score highest. Essentially, these tutorials will be teaching the same thing we go over in class but because they're unofficial we won't have to be glued to the district provided slides or the district required time limits placed on each of those "perfect" slides, and even though it will be extra work for me and a little extra work for the students who come, the sessions will allow us all to learn the material in less time and with stronger critical thinking, and because many of my students will not be invited, we will be able to move rapidly through our subjects. If DAUGHTER or you think this is something she might benefit from, please let me know, and once I get enough students who want to have these sessions we can all figure out the best time to do them. 

 

Please let DAUGHTER know that I will continue praying for her health and success; she gets a call out in my prayers on my commute to work every day, but unlike the names of kids that I am pleading with God to help me make the connection that I'm on their side/trying to help, DAUGHTER falls in the group where I thank Him for showing me a constant reminder of why and for who I do this job for, followed by me asking God to help me save the best of myself for those 12-15 students no matter how stressful the other kids or the principals make me. 

 

Thank you for being so communicative about her health issues, and I'm sorry I have not been able to reply or call as often as I would like. Can you ask DAUGHTER if she would like a copy of all the days missed packets, or if she would like a condensed, non-district resource that I could create myself to go over the math foundations we've laid that she may still be feeling a bit hesitant about? 

 

Thank you so much for all your support, and thank you for being such a good parent. It's as apparent and as heartwarming as a ray of sunshine, and I am grateful beyond words for both of you. 

 

Thanks,

Mr. Meroney

Remember this system which caused them to hire teachers at the last minute without proper vetting was created by the Republicans in Texas. They are ALL fucking complicit in creating this atmosphere.

Jesus, sending a wall of text like that should be a crime. I'm not saying it's a red flag for being a pedo, but it's concerning.

Four sentences, that's all parents have time to read. What happened and what do you need the parents to do about it... that's your email.

EDIT: Your point about Texas letting any warm body teach was not lost and completely valid.

Edited March 16Mar 16 by tchookem

26 minutes ago, tchookem said:

Jesus, sending a wall of text like that should be a crime. I'm not saying it's a red flag for being a pedo, but it's concerning.

Four sentences, that's all parents have time to read. What happened and what do you need the parents to do about it... that's your email.

EDIT: Your point about Texas letting any warm body teach was not lost and completely valid.

I guess grooming required lulling parents to sleep with a steady stream of bullshit?

No way I would have read all that mess. I'm a parent, not a fucking jury. Holy shit, we know if our kid needs help or not.

And yeah, sorry this POS ever crossed your daughter's path.

On 3/16/2026 at 4:57 PM, Iceman said:

No way I would have read all that mess. I'm a parent, not a fucking jury. Holy shit, we know if our kid needs help or not.

And yeah, sorry this POS ever crossed your daughter's path.

Thanks. It was kind of crazy, but her stories about his inappropriate whining about how he doesn't get paid enough, how he might not make his rent sent up red flags early on. Coupled with the fact that this school does not really hold teachers accountable to communicate with parents, makes me inherently suspicious of why they are trying to reduce parental involvement rather than encourage it, when the literature indicates that both economics and parental involvement are two indicators for student academic achievement.

We have real structural challenges in HISD and within Texas education, and it is largely ignored to the detriment of our future. It upsets me that this is political.

13 hours ago, Nivek said:

Thanks. It was kind of crazy, but her stories about his inappropriate whining about how he doesn't get paid enough, how he might not make his rent sent up red flags early on. Coupled with the fact that this school does not really hold teachers accountable to communicate with parents, makes me inherently suspicious of why they are trying to reduce parental involvement rather than encourage it, when the literature indicates that both economics and parental involvement are two indicators for student academic achievement.

We have real structural challenges in HISD and within Texas education, and it is largely ignored to the detriment of our future. It upsets me that this is political.

When you look at everything through a how-does-this-destroy-public-education-so-we-can-shift-taxpayer-money-to-privatized-education lense, everything makes sense.

Even at the most micro level... the classroom.

On 3/18/2026 at 9:21 PM, tchookem said:

When you look at everything through a how-does-this-destroy-public-education-so-we-can-shift-taxpayer-money-to-privatized-education lense, everything makes sense.

Even at the most micro level... the classroom.

Yes, it started with demonizing teachers and unions and then making educational materials political. But this has always been the ultimate end even if it wasn't entirely intentional from the start.

Florida has decided to remove intro to sociology from its list of general studies courses. It's still provided as a major/minor, but will not count toward a general studies or another major's social science requirement.

Because applying the scientific method to the study of social issues is "woke".

I'm hoping it has a Streisand Effect and more kids end up taking it, but its probably just a step in eliminating it all together.

Anyone apply for the TEFA vouchers this last session have any idea what is going on? There was an extension in the deadline due to some Abbott tomfoolery and some islamaphobia I believe, but then there was some other changes I think that happened? It's all been so very hard to keep up with and considering it's Texas' first season doing this there are of course bumps and bruises.

I know a lot of people who applied and we are all pretty much hopeless if they got oversubscribed based on the HHI guidances but also to a man we cannot really make heads or tails of what is real and what is rumor.

Anyone else applied and been accepted or have any decent information? Even reddit is devoid of insight which is rare.

On 4/6/2026 at 10:17 AM, Vegas64 said:

Anyone apply for the TEFA vouchers this last session have any idea what is going on? There was an extension in the deadline due to some Abbott tomfoolery and some islamaphobia I believe, but then there was some other changes I think that happened? It's all been so very hard to keep up with and considering it's Texas' first season doing this there are of course bumps and bruises.

I know a lot of people who applied and we are all pretty much hopeless if they got oversubscribed based on the HHI guidances but also to a man we cannot really make heads or tails of what is real and what is rumor.

Anyone else applied and been accepted or have any decent information? Even reddit is devoid of insight which is rare.

Anyone? No? Okay.

The Miracle Unfolding in Mississippi Schools - The New York Times

Saw that univ of Oregon is in staring down the barrel of financial and enrollment shit show. Part due to general economy making out of staters think twice on oos tuition, but prob more so the crackdown on international students and federal funding. The intl student dry up is playing out across the country… and what the smooth brains don’t realize is those intl’s heavily subsidize the tuition of locals.

Similar to the fuckin idiots wanting to do away with prop tax in Tx. Do you realize how much effin money apple or Bank of America or Amazon is paying into our local coffers via prop tax.

• 
• Robert Downen @RobertDownen_

NEW: Texas middle schoolers could be taught about a Christian revolutionary war movement that never existed. The so-called “Black Robe Regiment” is a favorite myth of Christian nationalists such as David Barton, who is advising a massive curricula overhaul

• 2:11 PM · Jun 15, 2026

A Critical Vote on Teaching the Bible in Texas Schools

The Texas State Board of Education meets this week to decide on K-12 curriculum some experts warn elevates Christianity over other faiths.

texasmonthly.com

1 hour ago, Pancho said:

• 
• Robert Downen @RobertDownen_

NEW: Texas middle schoolers could be taught about a Christian revolutionary war movement that never existed. The so-called “Black Robe Regiment” is a favorite myth of Christian nationalists such as David Barton, who is advising a massive curricula overhaul

• 2:11 PM · Jun 15, 2026

A Critical Vote on Teaching the Bible in Texas Schools

The Texas State Board of Education meets this week to decide on K-12 curriculum some experts warn elevates Christianity over other faiths.

texasmonthly.com

What a piece of shit this guy is.

And he was vice chair of the Texas GOP.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Barton_(author)

My 90% confidence we are leaving the state next year just went up to 95%. Keep going, Texas.

Trump further guts Education Dept. by shifting oversight of special ed, civil rights

NPR

Trump further guts Education Dept. by shifting oversight...

The moves to the federal departments of Health and Human Services and Justice, respectively, would further dismantle an agency that President Donald Trump has vowed to close.

Edited June 16Jun 16 by speed817

Imagine a world where Vince McMahan isn't even the most evil McMahon?

Special Ed being pushed beneath Kennedy? "Listen here, down syndrome can be cured by bathing the retard in mercury and week old menses. We're going to start collecting old period blood and shipping it to schools for treatment."

So the THECB changed the funding formula for Texas community colleges to be more performance based. Basically, you have to improve your student outcomes (completion rates mostly) along with increasing credit attainment and dual enrollment.

Well, Texas community colleges responded and have done so well that now the state might not have enough money to pay everyone.

Essentially, they were banking on CCs not being able to meet this goal so they didn’t appropriate enough funding to pay for the gains.

And my guess is lawmakers have already pocketed that money somehow because radical racist republicans in Texas are fucking scum crooks.

17 minutes ago, Pancho said:

And my guess is lawmakers have already pocketed that money somehow because radical racist republicans in Texas are fucking scum crooks.

You shouldn't guess.

You should just be certain this is the truth. Because there's zero chance it is NOT the truth.

um what? I think there is a massive divide on the philosophy and belief of what school is supposed to be and do.

“A school can't raise a child by itself, and neither can parents. We need a village.”

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/texas-disabilities-school-vouchers-returned-22303242.php

11 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

um what? I think there is a massive divide on the philosophy and belief of what school is supposed to be and do.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/education/article/texas-disabilities-school-vouchers-returned-22303242.php

Not sure what that quote is doing in that article or who said it.

I first became familiar with Nikole Hannah-Jones well before her book the 1619 project. I believe she wrote for ProPublica back in the mid 00s or eary 2010s. She also had an episode of "This American Life" which discussed school segregation and really brought issues for me to bear as my first born was around 2 at the time. She recently wrote an article about a her then middle school aged daughter confronting her with her choice, 10 years ago, to send her to a low income school in hopes of not adding to the crisis she had spent so much of her career researching. It's a really revealing article of which there has been a lot of public criticism directed towards Hannah-Jones for her decision. She doesnt shy away from the difficulties her child faced and the manner in which she was caught off guard at the somewhat detrimental impact her decision had on her daughter's education. It's a worthwhile read and I'm curious what yall think of it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DFE.VEgp.KONT81G9nSvt&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Original article about making the decision:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/magazine/choosing-a-school-for-my-daughter-in-a-segregated-city.html

Edited September 23Sep 23 by Catdaddyhorn

8 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I first became familiar with Nikole Hannah-Jones well before her book the 1619 project. I believe she wrote for ProPublica back in the mid 00s or eary 2010s. She also had an episode of "This American Life" which discussed school segregation and really brought issues for me to bear as my first born was around 2 at the time. She recently wrote an article about a her then middle school aged daughter confronting her with her choice, 10 years ago, to send her to a low income school in hopes of not adding to the crisis she had spent so much of her career researching. It's a really revealing article of which there has been a lot of public criticism directed towards Hannah-Jones for her decision. She doesnt shy away from the difficulties her child faced and the manner in which she was caught off guard at the somewhat detrimental impact her decision had on her daughter's education. It's a worthwhile read and I'm curious what yall think of it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DFE.VEgp.KONT81G9nSvt&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Original article about making the decision:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/magazine/choosing-a-school-for-my-daughter-in-a-segregated-city.html

I will second that it is a great piece. She has been raked over the coals online - not entirely undeservedly, given her combative position on this subject - but you have give her credit for writing this. It was interesting to read it now, as the mixed outcomes of several equity-driven initiatives from the 2010s/early 2020/ are becoming apparent (in particular, dropping the SATs.)

8 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I first became familiar with Nikole Hannah-Jones well before her book the 1619 project. I believe she wrote for ProPublica back in the mid 00s or eary 2010s. She also had an episode of "This American Life" which discussed school segregation and really brought issues for me to bear as my first born was around 2 at the time. She recently wrote an article about a her then middle school aged daughter confronting her with her choice, 10 years ago, to send her to a low income school in hopes of not adding to the crisis she had spent so much of her career researching. It's a really revealing article of which there has been a lot of public criticism directed towards Hannah-Jones for her decision. She doesnt shy away from the difficulties her child faced and the manner in which she was caught off guard at the somewhat detrimental impact her decision had on her daughter's education. It's a worthwhile read and I'm curious what yall think of it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DFE.VEgp.KONT81G9nSvt&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Original article about making the decision:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/magazine/choosing-a-school-for-my-daughter-in-a-segregated-city.html

God.

Damn.

I suppose, individually, I had conceived of or understood the disadvantages of a poor/black/minority school, but I really had no understanding that they all converged at once, especially the flat negligent teachers and absentee principals. Fucking hell.

1 hour ago, We’reTexas said:

I will second that it is a great piece. She has been raked over the coals online - not entirely undeservedly, given her combative position on this subject - but you have give her credit for writing this. It was interesting to read it now, as the mixed outcomes of several equity-driven initiatives from the 2010s/early 2020/ are becoming apparent (in particular, dropping the SATs.)

The criticism that she did it for performative reasons is what I don't get. For damn near 20 years she's written about approaching the issue of segegration and resource strapped school from the stand point of community based and individual parents not abdicating their responsibilties to their neighborhood schools. Her lack of success was more due to not recruiting a critical mass of parents who were willing make the same decision she did. It simply isnt possible to go it alone with your own child in a dysfunctional school. It would be a miracle for any child coming out of that elementary school to excel academically without either having her and her husband's resources or an extremely savvy parent.

38 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

God.

Damn.

I suppose, individually, I had conceived of or understood the disadvantages of a poor/black/minority school, but I really had no understanding that they all converged at once, especially the flat negligent teachers and absentee principals. Fucking hell.

Yeah that's what hit hardest for me as well. I guess countless movies about teachers in downtrodden schools overcoming against all odds sort of lulled me into the false belief that teachers were exempt from the law of slackers in any and all vocations.

Edited September 24Sep 24 by Catdaddyhorn

7 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

The criticism that she did it for performative reasons is what I don't get. For damn near 20 years she's written about approaching the issue of segegration and resource strapped school from the stand point of community based and individual parents not abdicating their responsibilties to their neighborhood schools. Her lack of success was more due to not recruiting a critical mass of parents who were willing make the same decision she did. It simply isnt possible to go it alone with your own child in a dysfunctional school. It would be a miracle for any child coming out of that elementary school to excel academically without either having her and her husband's resources or an extremely savvy parent.

Yeah that's what hit hardest for me as well. I guess countless movies about teachers in downtrodden schools overcoming against all odds sort of lulled me into the false belief that teachers were exempt from the law of slackers in any and all vocations.

Yep. I would have expected it to be a parental-involvement, maybe tutoring, struggle to compensate. And, as you note, probably need a critical mass of other involved parents. But, dear Jesus, that's worse than I thought and probably pretty difficult to overcome even with those things.

(I realize that some of my thinking here may be a result of "bootstraps"-type thinking) (and yeah, that whole heroic inner-city teacher and student thing has probably made me trivialize the struggle a bit).

Edited September 24Sep 24 by TwiceHorn

I don't think that's performative at all. She put her "money where her mouth was." And even as a black woman that has a deeper understanding of those disadvantages than many or most, she was badly mistaken as to how bad it was and what she could do to mitigate it.

I suppose her daughter is justified in being angry at her for the social experiment of it all.

But I think the people that are criticizing her are just being self-righteous about their own choices, which were not made with even the depth of understanding that Hannah-Jones had.

Good discussion on the decision matrix many black parents make when deciding what school to send their kids to. Have your kids get a "good" education, but risk the potential isolation and self -esteem issues that may come as a result (sports typically offers a shield against many of these issues for black boys, but doesnt work as well for black girls) . Or choose a "worse" school in an effort to protect your kids from that level of potential isolation and rejection. Despite this being the main area of discussion among black folks, it's clear to me that Hannah-Jones main focus was to not abandon the school and hopefully be an asset towards improving it.

On 9/23/2026 at 11:51 AM, Catdaddyhorn said:

I first became familiar with Nikole Hannah-Jones well before her book the 1619 project. I believe she wrote for ProPublica back in the mid 00s or eary 2010s. She also had an episode of "This American Life" which discussed school segregation and really brought issues for me to bear as my first born was around 2 at the time. She recently wrote an article about a her then middle school aged daughter confronting her with her choice, 10 years ago, to send her to a low income school in hopes of not adding to the crisis she had spent so much of her career researching. It's a really revealing article of which there has been a lot of public criticism directed towards Hannah-Jones for her decision. She doesnt shy away from the difficulties her child faced and the manner in which she was caught off guard at the somewhat detrimental impact her decision had on her daughter's education. It's a worthwhile read and I'm curious what yall think of it.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/20/magazine/ny-public-schools-black-students-segregation.html?unlocked_article_code=1.DFE.VEgp.KONT81G9nSvt&smid=nytcore-ios-share

Original article about making the decision:

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/magazine/choosing-a-school-for-my-daughter-in-a-segregated-city.html

Thanks for sharing this, maybe will get more attention and discussion from when I shared it earlier this week in the racism thread: https://surlyhorns.com/board/topic/29590-2023-thread-of-racism-in-america/page/28/#findComment-8093561

19 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

I don't think that's performative at all. She put her "money where her mouth was." And even as a black woman that has a deeper understanding of those disadvantages than many or most, she was badly mistaken as to how bad it was and what she could do to mitigate it.

I suppose her daughter is justified in being angry at her for the social experiment of it all.

But I think the people that are criticizing her are just being self-righteous about their own choices, which were not made with even the depth of understanding that Hannah-Jones had.

Her story and situation is the catch-22 or chicken-or-the-egg situation that needs sacrificial lambs before it can reach critical mass, which reminds me almost exactly of gentrification of neighborhoods and how neighborhoods turn.

1 hour ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Despite this being the main area of discussion among black folks, it's clear to me that Hannah-Jones main focus was to not abandon the school and hopefully be an asset towards improving it.

Exactly this, is how I read it. It reads to me an honest and introspective lesson in humility; not only with respect to her daughter and owning some of that, but also in that she WILDLY overestimated her influence and power as part of the upwardly mobile black bourgeoisie in NY. She really overestimated her ability to make an impact and a difference and move things forward.

46 minutes ago, Vegas64 said:

Her story and situation is the catch-22 or chicken-or-the-egg situation that needs sacrificial lambs before it can reach critical mass, which reminds me almost exactly of gentrification of neighborhoods and how neighborhoods turn.

gee whillikers, it's almost like this is a social burden that we should be collectively addressing through good public education - say we should enshrine that into our constitution! No way that would get ignored amirite

6 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Good discussion on the decision matrix many black parents make when deciding what school to send their kids to. Have your kids get a "good" education, but risk the potential isolation and self -esteem issues that may come as a result (sports typically offers a shield against many of these issues for black boys, but doesnt work as well for black girls) . Or choose a "worse" school in an effort to protect your kids from that level of potential isolation and rejection. Despite this being the main area of discussion among black folks, it's clear to me that Hannah-Jones main focus was to not abandon the school and hopefully be an asset towards improving it.

what's funny or not so funny, is that back in the day, this wouldn't have even been a difficult choice for immigrant parents. best school academically, end of discussion. especially if it was the child that was the 1st immigrant in the family. there was a certain hardiness that was expected of the kids, and I would say it was true, and the way it was approached as a community was largely shielding. you just weren't going to tell someone that was raised in Nigeria and came here for high school or college that they were inferior because of their race and have it cause self-esteem issues. it was just a marker that you were dealing with an idiot.

now, that generation is having their own kids who are born and raised here, and are finding out that somethings don't carry over as easily. you can be Nigerian all you want in your household, but you have to raise your kids in America as Americans, and those same things you were dismissive of in your day, if you don't pay attention, can cause serious harm to your kids.

Hannah-Jones did another podcast with This American Life. And in this one her daughter (who's now 16) gives her accounting of how things affected her.

Apple Podcasts

An Argument

Podcast Episode · This American Life · September 26 · 1h 2m

Thoughtful take from Kang (highlights in thread).

• 
• kang @jaycaspiankang

Wrote about Nikole Hannah-Jones’s latest essay, upper middle class parenting, and the delusions of moral, individual choices. Also a defense of teachers.

• 12:54 PM · Sep 29, 2026

Individual Choices Won’t Fix America’s Public Schools

Nikole Hannah-Jones sent her daughter to a struggling local school and has come to regret it. But personalizing the problem is the wrong approach.

newyorker.com

If this is the kind of thing that is playing out across Texas Universities? Wow... Party of "free speech", indeed.

The Atlantic- All the Things You’re Not Allowed to Say In Texas

At Texas Tech, medical students no longer learn about racial disparities in medical care. Faculty at the university’s medical center in Lubbock were advised to “refrain from treating transgender patients, for any medical condition, if a medical student was present,” according to a lawsuit filed by the American Association of University Professors. (When asked for comment, a spokesperson said that the university’s “written guidance is publicly available and expressly protects instruction necessary for licensure and patient care.”) According to the same lawsuit, the censorship bot—officially known as the Course Content Review Process—ordered a Tech philosophy professor to remove Plato’s Republic from a syllabus because “it references Plato’s beliefs concerning gender roles and homosexuality.”

Professors in the Texas A&M system have had to strip their syllabi too. According to an ACLU lawsuit, last January, Aaron George, a professor at Tarleton State University, was told by administrators to remove A Gay Manifesto, a Stonewall-era LGBTQ-rights pamphlet, and White Flight, a history of urban segregation, from his American-political-history course. After a student complained that a different class the professor taught violated university policy, George was informed by administrators that it would be canceled if he did not make “necessary” (but unspecified) changes. He cut a reference in the course description to the significance of the Fourteenth Amendment for LGBTQ rights, and the class was allowed to proceed.

The University of Texas at Austin, the flagship school of the UT system, announced last month that it was eliminating majors in Africana studies, Mexican American and Latino studies, women’s and gender studies, and race and migration studies. More than 100 courses have been flagged for removal from the core curriculum, primarily ones relating to slavery, race, gender, sexuality, and the environment. Consolidating majors isn’t necessarily nefarious, nor is rethinking a core curriculum (a central group of courses from which students must take a certain number to graduate). But these changes are happening, Lauren Gutterman, an American studies professor at UT, told me, “entirely because of the political context.”