The University of Houston System Board of Regents unanimously approved the removal of 133 courses from the University of Houston's core curriculum during its meeting Thursday, drawing pushback from some faculty members.
Some of the classes removed from UH's core curriculum include those discussing race and gender, such as Introduction to LGBT Studies, Women and Gender in Arabic Literature, and Intro to Global Climate Change. However, not all courses related to gender or race were removed, and several history courses — including those about Chicano history, U.S. Women's History, and African American history — remain as part of the core classes, according to the list approved Thursday.
Speaking to the board ahead of the vote, Vice Chancellor of Legal Affairs and General Counsel Dona H. Cornell clarified that some of the removed courses are still part of the elective curriculum.
"It is important to note, as you have heard, that these courses no longer in the core continue to remain in the catalog and there is a process for departments to work with the Provost's office to reapply for including a course in the core [curriculum]," Cornell said.
According to Cornell, students are required to take 42 hours of core classes to qualify for graduation. Core classes can also be transferred to other institutions.
The cuts to the flagship campus's core curriculum come as state universities across Texas have scrambled to comply with Senate Bill 37 before a Jan. 1 certification deadline. Earlier this year, the boards overseeing theUniversity of Texas at Austin,Texas A&M UniversityandTexas Tech Universitymade similar changes to their curriculum.
UH student Vice President Ian Kariuki was one of several speakers at the meeting who voiced concerns with the removal of some classes from the core curriculum. He said one of the university's strengths was its diversity and that the removal of these classes could damage that reputation.
"As a student, if I see that a class is not aligned with my major or my minor, I'm going to be less likely to join those classes, meaning less participation, which means in the future we're going to get rid of those classes," Kariuki said. "So, please be monumental people, so we one day can be in those classrooms that the University of Houston decided to fight against legislation and be remembered for all the good and not the bad."
The new list of core classes was created by the UH faculty council's curriculum committee, whose members were appointed by the UH Office of the Provost. The faculty council was created after the UH faculty senate was dissolved last year to comply with SB 37, whichlimited faculty influence over academicdecisions at public universities in Texas.
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Cornell, who advised the curriculum committee, applauded the faculty members who worked to create the new core class list.
"I can tell you that the faculty were thoughtful, professional, smart, and took the task seriously, even though they would inevitably be subject to criticism from their peers, as you have heard here," she said. "This is actually quite an honor for me to be able to observe this process."
Maria Gonzalez, an associate English professor at UH, spoke to the board ahead of their vote and said she was disappointed in the results of the curriculum committee, which Gonzalez said she served on.
"This summer's actions have proven me naive and now force me to recognize that our leadership bends to the winds of politics," Gonzalez said. "I, too, am culpable because I agreed to be a member of the Core Review Committee used to whitewash these governance changes. ... Today we can see that the outcome was already predetermined since our general counsel's narrow interpretation of SB 37 guaranteed certain narrow decisions."
Along with the changes made to the UH core curriculum, the board also approved changes to the core courses at the University of Houston Downtown and the University of Houston Clear Lake.
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