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Tag: ut arlington

  • University of Texas to vote on how race, gender can be discussed in classrooms

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    Cars travel on Cooper Street through the heart of the UTA's where enrollment is up 28 percent over 5 years ago.

    Cars travel on Cooper Street through the heart of the UTA’s where enrollment is up 28 percent over 5 years ago.

    FortWorth

    The University of Texas System Board of Regents will meet Wednesday during its quarterly meeting to discuss a policy that will decide how universities are allowed to teach “controversial topics” like race, gender and LGBTQ areas of study.

    The University of Texas System, which includes University of Texas at Arlington and UT Dallas, decided to vote on guidance on teaching such topics after the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents passed a similar ordinance late last year. Professors at A&M are now required to have their course syllabuses reviewed by department heads.

    Several A&M syllabuses have been rejected for including course content related to race and gender theory, the Star-Telegram previously reported. One professor’s syllabus was rejected for including readings from Plato. Another had his class canceled just days before the spring semester for failing to submit his syllabus for review.

    According to the UT Board of Regents meeting agenda, university leaders believe the guidance will “foster classroom cultures of trust in which all students feel free to voice their questions and beliefs, especially when those perspectives might conflict with those of the instructor or other students.” The guidance would also prohibit professors from including course material that is not considered “relevant” to the course.

    “In the classroom, instructors must be careful stewards of their pedagogical responsibilities and classroom authorities and must endeavor to create a classroom culture of trust,” the ordinance reads. “Instructors must not attempt to coerce, indoctrinate, harass, or belittle students, especially in addressing controversial subjects and areas where people of good faith can hold differing convictions.”

    If the ordinance on guidance passes Wednesday, UT System professors will be prohibited from teaching undisclosed material that is not clearly relevant and grounded in the topic of that course. If a course does include controversial and contested issues, professors must maintain a balanced approach and discussion. University leadership would be responsible for determining what is considered relevant.

    Like Texas A&M, UT system schools would review syllabuses during a curriculum review period and make a determination on when controversial material is necessary. Texas A&M’s new similar policy has caused friction between the university and a number of faculty members.

    Graduate professor Leonard Bright, who said his class was canceled just days before its first session at the start of the current spring semester, said the school’s claim he did not follow necessary course review requirements was false. Bright also wrote in an X post that his colleagues and students found out about the school’s decision to cancel his class before he did.

    “The message was clear: Be very afraid no one can save you from being censored at Texas A&M,” Bright wrote on X.

    Bright is also the president of A&M’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a group that protects faculty’s academic freedom. Bright has loudly shared his concerns about A&M’s course review process since it was passed, including a statement after another A&M professor was told to remove class readings last month.

    Texas A&M announced last month it was ending its women’s and gender studies department after currently enrolled students complete their degree. The university wrote in a statement at the time that six courses were being canceled because of the “controversial topics” guidance.

    On Tuesday, the American Association of University Professors wrote in a news release that it urges the UT System Board of Regents “in the strongest terms” to reject the proposed guidance.

    “The policy restricts the freedom of instructors to respond to student questions on past and current events, bring new breakthroughs and innovations into the course, and challenge the students to think about what could happen in the future,” AAUP wrote in the release. “In order for students to have the freedom to learn, instructors need the freedom to teach.”

    This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 8:52 PM.

    Samuel O’Neal

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Samuel O’Neal is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram covering higher education and local news in Fort Worth. He joined the team in December 2025 after previously working as a staff writer at the Philadelphia Inquirer. He graduated from Temple University, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the school’s student paper, The Temple News.

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    Samuel O’Neal

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  • Bob Schieffer speaks at UT Arlington exhibit showcasing his Vietnam War photos

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    Bob Schieffer, the legendary CBS correspondent and journalist who has covered many of America’s most important moments since the 1960s, was just 28 when he embarked to report on the Vietnam War for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

    Schieffer, a Fort Worth native and a TCU grad, was sent to talk to young servicemen and relay messages to their families back in Texas.

    Star-Telegram photographer Harry Cabluck sent Schieffer to Vietnam with a 35mm Nikon film camera. He arrived in Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in December 1965, and spent four months talking to and photographing soldiers — some barely older than 20.

    When Schieffer returned to the United States in 1966, he went on to become an anchor at Channel 5, and later a CBS correspondent and the moderator of “Face the Nation.”

    Now, a collection of the photos that Schieffer took in Vietnam are on display for the first time at UT Arlington, in a special collection called “Our Man In Vietnam,” in addition to paintings that Schieffer created based on photographs he took of Texas soldiers serving in the war.

    On Feb. 7, Schieffer was joined by friends and family, and one of the veterans he photographed, to celebrate the opening of the exhibit. He spoke to the crowd about his long career and what he hopes others can gain from seeing his work.

    “Tonight, I’m going to give myself the same advice that I would give when people would ask me, ‘What’s the secret to moderating a presidential debate?’” Schieffer said. “Don’t forget that it’s not about you. It’s about them.”

    He was referring to the soldiers that he originally photographed during his time in Vietnam, then painted decades later. During his time in Vietnam, Schieffer located 235 soldiers deployed from Texas, and interviewed dozens of them for the Star-Telegram.

    “I’ve covered a lot of stories, but I never got the response that I got when I would ask kids, ‘Hi, I’m Bob Schieffer from the Star Telegram, and your mother asked me to find out how you were doing,’” Schieffer said. “I remember kids that would absolutely break into sobbing tears. They were lonesome. They were in a place that many of them had never heard of… I’ll never forget the looks on their faces when they saw me.”

    Schieffer said that his time in Vietnam for the Star-Telegram altered the course of his career.

    “I can’t think of any particular organization that I owe more to than the Star-Telegram,” Schieffer told the crowd.

    After his remarks, Schieffer toured the exhibit and spoke to attendees along the way.

    Marine Cpl. Joe Beaver Jr., an Arlington native, was in attendance Saturday night. He was one of the servicemen photographed and painted.

    Beaver served for eight years in the Marines, and spent four years in Vietnam. He was wounded three times, he told reporters, and said how lucky he was to make it out of the war alive.

    “This is about Bob Schieffer, not me,” Beaver said. “I just happened to be one that got shot all the time.”

    As Beaver reminisced about the war, surrounded by his family, he spoke of those who never came home.

    “I am the luckiest person in the world to come out of that country,” Beaver said.

    Sara Pezzoni, the archivist at UT Arlington Libraries’ Special Collections department, was a major force behind the exhibition.

    Schieffer reached out to Pezzoni in March 2025, she said, asking about photos he had taken in Vietnam. UTA also stores the Star-Telegram’s photo archives.

    Pezzoni knew that UT Arlington didn’t have the photos he was talking about — but it turned out that Schieffer had, after all, held on to some of his notes and negatives.

    Pezzoni visited Schieffer at his home in Washington, D.C., and discovered a trove of photographs, notes and letters that Star-Telegram readers had sent asking about their sons who were fighting in the war.

    After a months-long search, Pezzoni and her team tracked down family members for all four of the soldiers Schieffer painted. Three of those families were present Saturday night.

    The exhibition represents what Pezzoni and Schieffer both said is a top-of-mind goal — preserving American history for future generations.

    “This exhibit has several intentions,” Pezzoni told the crowd. “It serves as a reflection of Bob’s career and how his time in Vietnam shaped who he became and is today, it celebrates Bob’s legacy of honoring service members and their families, and it brings more awareness to the history of the Vietnam War and its many complex layers.”

    The free exhibit of Schieffer’s photos, titled “Our Man in Vietnam,” will be held in the University of Texas at Arlington Libraries’ Special Collections area at 702 Planetarium Place. Visit libraries.uta.edu/schieffer for more details. The exhibit is on display until April 4.

    This story was originally published February 7, 2026 at 11:08 PM.

    Emily Holshouser

    Fort Worth Star-Telegram

    Emily Holshouser is a local news reporter at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

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    Emily Holshouser

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