Texas Tech University System’s new content-review rules took effect this week, requiring faculty to obtain administrative approval before teaching material on gender identity, sexual orientation and certain race-related topics. Chancellor Brandon Creighton—author of the state law prompting the policy—said the measures implement Senate Bill 37 and place course material about gender and race under a regents-led review process. The memo explicitly bars instruction that promotes activism or requires students to “affirm” contested viewpoints and limits recognition of sex to male and female, citing state law and federal policy. Faculty may request exceptions but administrators and the provost must document and justify approvals to the Board of Regents, creating a multi-step review for curricula that touch on race, sex or sexuality. The policy also prohibits teaching that a race or sex is inherently superior and restricts language about group guilt. Critics and faculty governance bodies have flagged immediate concerns about academic freedom, academic rigor and compliance burdens as faculty must now navigate new pre-approval workflows. Why it matters: the systemwide rule ties classroom content to political and legal mandates at the state level and creates compliance and reporting obligations that could reshape course design and faculty autonomy across Texas Tech’s campuses. Observers expect faculty governance disputes and legal challenges to follow as instructors test boundaries and administrators enforce the new review regime.