About 50 people gathered Friday afternoon, Sept. 25, outside University Baptist Church, just steps from UT-Austin’s campus, to protest what they described as attacks on academic freedom and programs focused on race, gender, sexuality, and culture. Organized by the Texas State Employees Union, students and employees of the university gave speeches before the group marched along Guadalupe.
Although speakers raised broader concerns about public higher education in Texas, much of the protest focused on UT, where recent decisions have changed the future of several academic programs.
The protest comes amid a series of academic changes at the university. Earlier this year, UT consolidated four departments: African and African Diaspora Studies; American Studies; Mexican American and Latina/o Studies; and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies into the new Department of Social and Cultural Analysis. More recently, UT confirmed that new students will no longer be able to declare majors in three of those areas: African and African Diaspora Studies, Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, and Women’s and Gender Studies. Students already enrolled will be able to complete their degrees, while professors have until the end of the semester to propose new majors.
Ilesa Daniels Ross, president of TSEU, raised concerns about the changes. She said the union organized the protest to support students and professors and defend academic freedom.
“We are here today standing in solidarity with students and professors,” Daniels Ross said. “We feel like they should have the right to choose what they want to learn, how they want to learn.”
The uncertainty of what changes could be on the horizon also remains a concern among students. Devon May, a junior studying sociology and government and a member of Students for a Democratic Society, said students and faculty have discussed the impacts of the changes, but with the university’s plans still unclear, students are left without crucial information.
“There is some talk between faculty and students about what’s going on,” May said, but there is “very little information about what they’re doing going forward.”
For some students, that uncertainty directly affects what they study and the academic opportunities they will have in the coming years. Diana Garcia, a senior studying government and rhetoric and writing with a minor in Mexican American Studies, said students are constantly checking their emails hoping for more information.
“Every day, we look at our emails and see if there is an update,” Garcia said. Students are often “either left in the dark or given bad news.”
Speaking as an expert in her field, Lina-Maria Murillo, an associate professor of UT’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, said some classes have already seen lower enrollment.
“When you start to censor what people can say and teach, it makes it difficult to offer the most robust education,” Murillo said. “And students know that. And they feel it.”
UT has explained the reorganization differently. When the university announced the changes, it cited student demand, the size and scope of the departments, the university’s academic mission, and the distribution of resources as motivations for the reductions.
Daniels Ross said the TSEU plans to continue organizing until the university listens to the concerns of students and workers.
“What we want is for them to hear our voices, hear the voices of the students, hear the voices of the professors,” Daniels Ross said. “If they don’t hear us today, then we’ll just keep showing up until they hear us.”
This article appears in October 2 • 2026.