Texas' Patrick vows to ban critical race theory at publicly-funded universities

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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick on Tuesday vowed the state would ban the teaching of critical race theory at public colleges after the University of Texas at Austin Faculty Council passed a resolution saying teachers, not politicians, should be in charge of the curriculum.

“I will not stand by and let looney Marxist UT professors poison the minds of young students with Critical Race Theory,” Patrick tweeted on Tuesday. “We banned it in publicly funded K-12 and we will ban it in publicly funded higher ed. That’s why we created the Liberty Institute at UT.”

Dan Patrick, Texas’ Lieutenant Governor, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas, Texas, U.S., on Friday, July 9, 2021.  Photographer: Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(Dylan Hollingsworth/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Liberty Institute is a planned conservative think tank at the university that would promote “individual liberty, limited government, private enterprise and free markets,” according to the Houston Chronicle. 

Signs opposing Critical Race Theory line the entrance to the Loudoun County School Board headquarters, in Ashburn, Virginia, U.S. June 22, 2021. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
(REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)

The university’s Monday resolution said it was defending “academic freedom.”

University of Texas Austin campus at sunset-dusk – aerial view
(iStock)

“State legislative proposals seeking to limit teaching and discussions of racism and related issues have been proposed and enacted in several states, including Texas,” it said. “This resolution affirms the fundamental rights of faculty to academic freedom in its broadest sense, inclusive of research and teaching of race and gender theory.” 

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