A wave of campus and state actions restricting instruction on gender and race has led to faculty discipline and new guidance limiting classroom content. Texas Tech issued guidance that caps instruction on gender identities and restricts race topics; at Oklahoma University an instructor was removed after a student protested a failing grade on a paper that cited the Bible, according to reporting. Advocates warn the measures chill academic freedom and may trigger legal challenges under the First Amendment; administrators say they are responding to new state laws and political pressure. Free‑speech and higher‑education groups argue that vagueness in policy language risks uneven enforcement and faculty intimidation. For universities, the dispute complicates hiring, curricular decisions and shared governance: trustees, state officials and campus leaders must navigate legal exposure, faculty due‑process rights and classroom autonomy as political actors press for curricular controls.