The University of North Texas has not appeared to shed its woke programs despite statewide efforts to purge the ideology from state institutions.
An investigation from The Dallas Express revealed a variety of leftist programs still offered by the university. These includes academic minors in Women and Gender Studies and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, “Transgender”, and Queer Studies, as well as Masters in Women and Gender Studies.
Other courses include Feminist & Womanist Theories, Behavioral & Biopsychosocial Challenges w/in LGBT Communities, Feminist and Womanist Theories, LGBTQ Studies, Feminist Foundations, and Sociology of Sexuality.
While not overtly political, one course was labeled “Topic: Basketry,” echoing the “underwater basket weaving degree” idiom that has circulated the zeitgeist for decades.
The Dallas Express reached out to the UNT Board of Regents, including:
- Daniel Feehan – Chairman of FirstCash, Inc.
- Carlos Munguia – President & CEO of Amegy Bank-Dallas/Fort Worth
- Lindy Rydman – Co-owner and General Partner for Spec’s Wines, Spirits and Finer Foods
- AK Mago – Chairman and CEO of Mago and Associates, Inc.
- Ethan Gillis – Student Regent of the University of North Texas System
- Melisa Dennis – KPMG’s National Tax Leader for Consumer Goods
- Cathy Bryce – Retired Highland Park ISD Superintendent
DX also reached out to the university president for comment on this story but did not receive a response by publication time. Regents John Scott Jr., D.O., MHA, FASA, of Keller, the Chief Medical Officer of the board with Elite Care Physicians and Premier Specialty Physicians; Laura Wright, retired Chief Financial Officer from Southwest Airlines; and Terri West, a retired senior vice president of Texas Instruments Inc., could not be reached for comment.
Many universities in Texas are dropping programs connected to sexual or “transgender” politics.
A spokesman for the University of Houston recently told DX that the university had dropped a section friom a law school application that allowed users to select “Androgyne, Demigender, Female, Genderqueer or gender fluid, Male, Non-transgender man, Non-transgender woman, Prefer not to say, Questioning or unsure, “Transgender” man, [and] “Transgender” woman,” as their gender. However, DX reported that on the university’s job applications, a ” ze/hir/hirs, ze/zir/zirs” pronoun option remained.
This comes on the heels of both federal and state governments taking action against woke ideology.
In an Executive Order sent to federal agencies just days after Trump took office, President Donald Trump’s Office of Personnel Management directed agency heads to strip “gender ideology” from federal websites, contracts, and emails. The order instructed executive bodies to disband certain employee organizations and to substitute the term “gender” with “sex” in government documents.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a press release on January 30 that hammered any program that promoted the notion of there being more than two sexes.
“The State of Texas recognizes only two sexes—male and female—and sex discrimination consists in treating a member of one sex less favorably than the other, absent some pertinent difference,” the press release reads.
“Others have sought to distort the guarantee that men and women must be treated equally in order to impose mandates concerning sexual orientation and gender identity. On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order, Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government, rejecting similar efforts by the Biden-Harris Administration to distort commonsense notions of biological sex. As the Chief Executive Officer of the State, I direct you to follow state and federal law. All Texas agencies must ensure that agency rules, internal policies, employment practices, and other actions comply with the law and the biological reality that there are only two sexes—male and female.”
The following day, Abbott issued an Executive Order that prohibited Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies and “curricula” in “all state agencies.”
DX reported that state legislators, such as Rep. Nate Schatzline (R-Fort Worth), have introduced several pieces of legislation to ban DEI at the county and city levels.