American Association of University Professors, et al. v. Creighton, et al.
Lambda Legal, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP filed a federal lawsuit challenging censorship policies imposed across the Texas Tech University System by Chancellor Brandon Creighton and the Texas Tech University System Board of Regents. The policies, set out in two memoranda issued in December 2025 and April 2026, require faculty to submit course materials for review and to stop teaching any content flagged as touching on race, sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity until the Board of Regents rules on it.
The lawsuit argues that the policies impose unconstitutional viewpoint-based restrictions on classroom instruction, are so vague that faculty cannot reasonably determine what is prohibited, and were adopted, at least in part, to discriminate against Black faculty and suppress instruction on Black history and the Black experience in America. The plaintiffs seek a declaration that the policies are unconstitutional and an order blocking their enforcement across the Texas Tech University System, which includes Texas Tech University, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Angelo State University, Midwestern State University, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center at El Paso.
- December 1, 2025 – Chancellor Creighton issued Creighton Memorandum I, establishing a mandatory course content review process across the Texas Tech University System.
- April 9, 2026 – Chancellor Creighton and the Board of Regents issued Creighton Memorandum II, setting system-wide curriculum guidelines governing course content related to race, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
- July 7, 2026 – Plaintiffs filed a Complaint challenging the Creighton Memoranda as unlawful and unconstitutional.
