Lubbock is famously known for its dust, its wind, and its unwavering commitment to the 1950s. Now, thanks to our new Overlord of Academia, Chancellor Brandon Creighton, Texas Tech is finally scrubbing away those pesky “nuances” of history and science. Students are opening their syllabi only to find “DO NOT READ” stamps and “CENSORED” labels, which is a great way to make 20-year-olds totally ignore those chapters, right?
Creighton, fresh off a stint in the Texas Legislature where he apparently decided “meritocracy” is a sacred text and “gender” is a scary ghost story, issued a memo that has faculty sweating through their tweed blazers. The new vibe: if it involves race, gender, or sexuality, don’t talk about it in class. If a student asks a question, you have to lure them into a dark alleyway for a one-on-one chat like you’re selling bootleg DVDs. God forbid anyone “advocates” for the radical idea that history might be complicated.
The result? Classes like “Ethnic Minority Psychology” and “Close Relationships” (which sounds like something Lubbockites usually only discuss in church basements anyway) were nuked just days before the semester. Meanwhile, the Board of Regents—appointed by Governor Abbott to ensure our degrees remain as “valuable” as a 1998 Chevy Suburban—won’t even meet to review the “censorship portal” submissions until late February. By then, the students will have spent half the semester staring at the wall or learning the “correct” version of history where everything was always fine.
Chancellor Creighton basically told everyone that unless your degree helps you drill a hole in the ground or sell insurance, it’s not a “degree of value.” He even suggested that if you’re looking for gender studies, Tech isn’t the place for you—which is a bold marketing pivot for a school that’s had the program since 1981. It’s a bold new era for the Scarlet and Black: Come for the football, stay for the state-mandated blinders.
If we’re only allowed to recognize “two sexes” and “work ethic,” does this mean we can finally stop pretending the Masked Rider is a mythical figure and just admit it’s a student in a cape with a very confused horse?
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/02/04/texas-tech-race-gender-sexuality-review-creighton/