HUMAN RIGHTS
- Equal Protection clause cut from Constitutional classes
- Cuts to Diversity, Equity or Inclusion efforts widespread
- Half-hearted compliance from faculty
- Tip-lines opened for informing on professors
SAN ANGELO — Angelo State University students say some of the school’s controversial unwritten gender-ideology policies are being rolled back quietly, but the war on woke has already changed college life for students in this West Texas town.
Just before Halloween, The Concho Observer interviewed students at ASU about the school policies, in a discussion that included a broad spectrum of students and touched on a variety of subjects.
Some students said they were OK with using their first names, but several said they would prefer to remain anonymous.
To begin with, students said that efforts by the ASU administration to remove anything that could be seen as furthering a diverse, equitable, or inclusive spirit on campus have been successful, limiting resources that were previously available to students.
Regarding the policies specifically targeting LGBTQ students, one student told the Observer a faculty member told them parts of those policy changes would be rolled back due to the backlash, but some parts will stay.
They said that, for now, preferred names, pronouns, safe space stickers and LGBTQ flags are okay, and that curriculums for healthcare related studies will not be altered.
The discussion then offered students a chance to talk about changes they’ve noticed.
A senior named Eli, said that specific sections of at least one constitutional amendment have been stripped from text of the class.
“A professor who teaches government courses told me that their curriculum for the 14th Amendment, specifically the equal protection clause, is going to be cut.
“Because speaking about it will get them in trouble. So that means any like Trans rights court cases or cannot be taught.”
The 14th Amendment has been a frequent target of attacks from the Trump Administration, based on the birthright citizenship and equal protection clauses, with many examples of the president suggesting it be repealed, attempting to weaken its protections through executive orders.
Despite these attempts, the 14th Amendment has not been repealed, and remains the law of the land.
We asked for a bit more clarification about what might have led to this decision.
“Well, the Trump policy is: no gender studies, no critical race theory studies, and anything that’s critical of American policy. OK, so yeah, that’s a lot of curriculum to blow across.”
“I know a lot of professors are leaving because they are furious about these policies,” said Breean, a sophomore. “I switched to be a dual major because my favorite professors are leaving the school.” She said that she had two professors from the same department that are planning on leaving.
In The Classroom
Eli isn’t happy about the decision: “We aren’t really allowed to turn to President Hawkins. He’s been told to shut up. We don’t even have people to talk to because we can’t go directly to TTU.”
When topics regarding transgender people come up in the classroom, professors dance around the topic:
“My professors multiple times have mentioned, cautiously and laughingly say ‘we have to stay away from this, guys.’
“So, they’re making jokes out of it, but they’re still like doing what the policy tells them to.”
Another student adds: “My professor has gotten in trouble in the past for ‘pushing his leftist beliefs’, but now he is no longer protected. There are going to be so many students calling the tip line.”
“The tip line is for students to report what their teachers said in the classroom.” Explains Katie, a Senior.
Several others referenced the “tip line” as a kind of surveillance measure to ensure compliance.
San Angelo: An Accepting Town?
San Angelo has long held a reputation for being one of the more accepting towns in West Texas for gay and transgender people.
Many students cited this, along with the university’s efforts to promote diversity in past years, as a central reason why they chose the school.
“For me, it was seeing diversity and inclusion plastered throughout this campus,” Eli said, “I toured five universities to decide where I was going to go, and this is where I landed, partially because of that.”
“I think it’s fair to say all five core values are not being honored right now,” he added, in reference to the Angelo State Core Values stated on their website:
Integrity, diversity and inclusion, significance, community, and commitment.
“What I hear is that this campus doesn’t really feel very safe anymore,” said Eli. “This is the first time I’ve felt like my educational career was no longer like a safe place for me to be. Just because I have the views on equality that I do.”
Althea, a Junior, expressed a similar feeling:
“When I heard that ASU was accepting of who you are, and who you love, that’s what made me want to come here. And because of what’s happening, I don’t want to say I regret it, but it’s different now.”
The Reality For Young Transgender People
(Please Note: The Following Section Discusses Hate Crimes and Sexually Motivated Violence)
What does a culture that consistently dismisses the humanity of transgender people lead to? The data shows that it leads to dead trans people.
CBS News reported in 2022 that the number of trans people who were murdered in the U.S. nearly doubled between 2017 and 2021, according to Everytown for Gun Safety.
Of the total victims, 73% were killed with a gun.
Everytown’s Transgender Homicide Tracker found that there was a 93% increase in tracked homicides of trans and gender-nonconforming people in the United States and Puerto Rico
In 2021, 56 people were killed, compared to 29 reported deaths in 2017. While only 13% of the transgender community is estimated to be Black, according to UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute, Black trans women accounted for nearly three-quarters of the known victims.
During an incident at Barton Springs Pool in Austin this summer, a group of three men harassed a trans person and her friends, making transphobic comments and rude gestures that escalated into a brutal attack resulting in several severe injuries.
After pushing two of the women violently to the ground, the attackers were confronted by a bystander who attempted to intervene was knocked unconscious and left with a broken jaw and other injuries.
Austin Police investigated the case as a potential hate crime, and arrest warrants for second-degree felony aggravated assault were issued for two suspects in September 2025.
According to data from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, between May 1, 2024, and May 1, 2025, GLAAD’s ALERT Desk tracked 485 incidents specifically targeting transgender and gender non-conforming people in the US, accounting for 52 percent of all incidents the organization tracked. Incidents included violence, harassment, threats, and vandalism.
How ASU plans on staying true to its stated values, fulfilling its promise to protect students, while taking actions to stay on the good side of the State and Washington is unclear.
One transgender student, who wished to remain anonymous, thinks the ambiguity is the point:
“The point is that we’re scared. It doesn’t matter that there’s no written policy. We’re scared. That’s the point.”
Read more about the violence faced by transgender people in the United States here.
1 Comment
This is awful. I’m devastated to see all of the progress that’s been made over the last few years intentionally removed by people who are fearful and ignorant. ASU has worked very hard to be open and accepting – a place for new ideas! I hope that ASU doesn’t lose faculty and students because of this backwards policy.