Bush School ethics class cancelled due to faculty refusing to justify DEI slant

2,657 Views | 34 Replies | Last: 16 hrs ago by MouthBQ98
bushytailed
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10:06a, 1/16/26
AG
Knowing the professor in question, this is far from surprising. He is still mad about not getting tenure when Welsh was the Bush School dean.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/curriculum/2026/01/15/texas-am-cancels-graduate-ethics-class-course-review

Quote:
Public policy professor Leonard Bright's graduate class Ethics in Public Policy did not get such an exemption. It also wasn't submitted for one, according to an email from Dean John Sherman to all Bush School of Government and Public Service faculty Wednesday. Sherman wrote that he asked Bright to share when and how his class would address race, gender or sexuality, and that Bright "declined" to say.

"We were not able to identify the specific information we needed to submit an exemption request and thus must cancel the course," Sherman wrote. "[Bright] was asked repeatedly to provide information on his planned instructions on the topics identified in System Policy 08.01. He declined to provide this information, which made it impossible for us to request an exemption."

Bright contests this. In an email to Sherman on Tuesday, Bright said that "issues of race, gender, and sexuality are not peripheral but integral" to the class, which focuses on ethics in public administration practice and how it is shaped by public servants and the people they serve.

"I tried to underline that throughout the coursein every reading and every case study they have, in current events, in book reviews[race and gender] will be central to this class. I guess [Sherman] didn't like that," Bright told Inside Higher Ed. "It appears to me that he wanted me to say, 'I'm just discussing it here,' so they can limit or censor this and say that they're only approving me to discuss it on this day or that day. I thought that that was inappropriate. I could not teach that class under that kind of condition."

Sherman notified Bright about the cancellation via email just minutes before he sent a note to all Bush School faculty. He did not respond to Inside Higher Ed's request for comment Wednesday.
The nine enrolled students were notified of their removal from the class in an email Wednesday, which Bright shared on X.

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Sid Farkas
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10:11a, 1/16/26
AG
Quote:
"issues of race, gender, and sexuality are not peripheral but integral" to the class…"


Do I need any more proof than this that it's garbage curriculum?
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KerrAg76
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10:11a, 1/16/26
DEI "Integral" to a class on public policy!! F that, go find a new profession because you're screwing up the minds of your students. No attention to race, gender, sexual preference is exactly what makes a work environment free for all to excel!
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Rapier108
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10:15a, 1/16/26
Leonard Bright has been whining to the media about this for a while.

KBTX loves to give him a platform.
"If you will not fight for right when you can easily win without blood shed; if you will not fight when your victory is sure and not too costly; you may come to the moment when you will have to fight with all the odds against you and only a precarious chance of survival. There may even be a worse case. You may have to fight when there is no hope of victory, because it is better to perish than to live as slaves." - Sir Winston Churchill
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Logos Stick
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10:15a, 1/16/26
Bright seems very dull to me.
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Old Sarge
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10:15a, 1/16/26
AG
When you exist almost exclusively to push an agenda, and your ability to push it as hard as you want is curtailed, why get out of bed?

Pompous ass.
"Green" is the new RED.
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YouBet
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10:18a, 1/16/26
AG
Quote:
"I tried to underline that throughout the course in every reading and every case study they have, in current events, in book reviews [race and gender] will be central to this class.

Glad it got cancelled then.
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AozorAg
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10:18a, 1/16/26
Sounds that class was a perfect candidate for cancelation. Goodbye.
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captkirk
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10:19a, 1/16/26
AG
Was in the Corps with John Sherman. He's as sharp as they come.
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CDUB98
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10:21a, 1/16/26
AG
The Commie can go teach somewhere else.
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YellAg2004
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10:22a, 1/16/26
AG
There are dozens nine of us.gif
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Ag87H2O
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10:23a, 1/16/26
AG
"I tried to underline that throughout the course in every reading and every case study they have, in current events, in book reviews[race and gender] will be central to this class. I guess [Sherman] didn't like that," Bright told Inside Higher Ed. "It appears to me that he wanted me to say, 'I'm just discussing it here,' so they can limit or censor this and say that they're only approving me to discuss it on this day or that day. I thought that that was inappropriate. I could not teach that class under that kind of condition."

No, you didn't do what your boss asked and now you're reaping the consequences.

If you believe the conditions were so terrible, please feel free to quit and go find employment elsewhere.
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Ellis Wyatt
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In reply to bushytailed • 10:35a, 1/16/26
I am sure this dbag thinks he will embarrass the University, I am sure his fellow academics will chortle and howl, but he is only embarrassing himself. He is just too deluded to realize it.

Resign, you buffoon.
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BTKAG97
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10:36a, 1/16/26
AG
DEI should be taught in an Ethics in Public Policy class as it is unethical.

Though you'd need an ethical professor to dessiminate this information correctly during instruction.
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annie88
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In reply to captkirk • 11:16a, 1/16/26
AG
captkirk said:
Was in the Corps with John Sherman. He's as sharp as they come.


He sounds like an indoctrinated idiot.
“Some people bring joy wherever they go, and some people bring joy whenever they go.” ~ Mark Twain
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Keller6Ag91
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In reply to captkirk • 11:21a, 1/16/26
AG
captkirk said:
Was in the Corps with John Sherman. He's as sharp as they come.

Same. Knew his wife Liz well as well. Both sharp, dedicated individuals.
Gig'Em and God Bless,

JB'91
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2000AgPhD
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11:25a, 1/16/26
This is the guy who cried racism when he didn't get tenure, right? With a five-page CV and little publication history?
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Shooter McGavin
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In reply to Sid Farkas • 11:27a, 1/16/26
AG
Sid Farkas said:
Quote:
"issues of race, gender, and sexuality are not peripheral but integral" to the class…"


Do I need any more proof than this that it's garbage curriculum?

....and

"and every case study they have, in current events, in book reviews[race and gender] will be central to this class"

That sir, is why your class got nuked.
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One Eyed Reveille
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In reply to annie88 • 11:33a, 1/16/26
AG
annie88 said:
captkirk said:
Was in the Corps with John Sherman. He's as sharp as they come.


He sounds like an indoctrinated idiot.


John Sherman is not the whining prof. But his boss that said no to the class.
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doubledog
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In reply to bushytailed • 12:15p, 1/16/26
bushytailed said:
Knowing the professor in question, this is far from surprising. He is still mad about not getting tenure when Welsh was the Bush School dean.


He is tenured (now).
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BQ_90
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12:17p, 1/16/26
AG
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BarKeep_03
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12:21p, 1/16/26
AG
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TX_COWDOC
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In reply to annie88 • 12:25p, 1/16/26
AG
annie88 said:
captkirk said:
Was in the Corps with John Sherman. He's as sharp as they come.


He sounds like an indoctrinated idiot.
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Kenneth_2003
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In reply to Logos Stick • 12:29p, 1/16/26
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Logos Stick said:
Bright seems very dull to me.

Seems pretty DIM to me!
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BQ78
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In reply to BQ_90 • 12:32p, 1/16/26
AG
That picture implies highway 6 runs 4 ways. I refuse to accept that as the corps indoctrinated me with it running two ways, instead of DEI.
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jrdaustin
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In reply to Shooter McGavin • 12:41p, 1/16/26
AG
Shooter McGavin said:
Sid Farkas said:
Quote:
"issues of race, gender, and sexuality are not peripheral but integral" to the class…"


Do I need any more proof than this that it's garbage curriculum?

....and

"and every case study they have, in current events, in book reviews[race and gender] will be central to this class"

That sir, is why your class got nuked.

I'm not sure it is.

If he would have owned up to exactly what he intended to teach (preach) in the class in detail, how it specifically applied to ethics in Public Policy, and then included it in the syllabus, he MIGHT have been able to get an exemption. But he needed to be transparent.

Instead, he took the "what and how I teach my class is MY business, and no one else's" approach.

THAT's what got his class cancelled, and rightly so.
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one safe place
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12:50p, 1/16/26
Very few professors should be teaching an ethics class.
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HILLJE61
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1:03p, 1/16/26
Hire the Tech President to run the Bush School quickly please
Hillje
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Owlagdad
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In reply to CDUB98 • 1:20p, 1/16/26
CDUB98 said:
The Commie can go teach somewhere else.


Yes! If I hired on somewhere and I didn't jive with bosses or town folks, I moved. Pretty simple. Pretty American way.
Leftists believe one way, right another. But damn, leftists want to make sure you believe their way!
What is so difficult to do what your boss tells you to do?
These fools have hid behind academic freedom so much, they create their own bs courses!
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Omperlodge
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1:25p, 1/16/26
He didn't go through the process. He created the issue to get this result.
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Owlagdad
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In reply to Omperlodge • 1:32p, 1/16/26
Omperlodge said:
He didn't go through the process. He created the issue to get this result.


So he can whine and be a victim?
I don't think I could stand in front of a group of young people knowing I was a spineless whiner. He's get more respect if he told A&M to kiss his ass and pitch his keys. That's what gets me, these anti everything bunch won't give up their paycheck and kush way of life, but want to draw that check and do what the eff they want to.
Throw that resume out there, Prof!
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Sid Farkas
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2:14p, 1/16/26
AG
This whole defiance for the sole purpose of being defiant is so stupid and needs to stop.

Btw, teaching people the sky is green and the moon is made of cheese doesn't do justice to Education. hth.
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Bird Poo
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In reply to CDUB98 • 2:27p, 1/16/26
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CDUB98 said:
The Commie can go teach somewhere else.

He needs to be unemployed. I respect his freedom to speak his mind, but I don't respect him teaching poison.
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Iraq2xVeteran
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2:34p, 1/16/26
AG
I am glad Dean John Sherman cancelled Leonard Bright's graduate class Ethics in Public Policy because his curriculum that makes race and gender central to his course is garbage.
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MouthBQ98
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2:47p, 1/16/26
AG
Well, in one sense, he is right. Those issues will undoubtedly come up because one side of the political spectrum is extremely focused on leveraging identity politics for any advantage. It would depend on if the discussion was that the issues exist in our current politics, or more that they are valid and should be being addressed by taking the progressive left's arguments.
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