Texas A&M Bans Philosophy Prof. From Teaching Plato Because of "Gender Ideology"

“Silencing 2,500-year-old ideas from one of the world’s most influential thinkers betrays the mission of higher education.”

PLATO // Letina_x // Creative Commons

Even Plato is not safe from the war on “woke.”

Writings from Plato, the ancient Greek scholar whose work is often considered the bedrock of modern philosophy, were deemed too controversial for the classroom by officials at Texas A&M University - College Station because of their discussions of gender.

Dr. Martin Peterson, a TAMU philosophy professor and chair of the university’s Academic Freedom Council, had submitted his syllabus to department leadership for review ahead of the spring 2026 semester.

This review is required as per new rules instituted by the University Board of Regents after conservatives waged a harassment campaign against faculty who taught about gender or race. According to reporting by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the syllabus included excerpts of Plato’s Aristophanes’ Myth of the Split Humans, Diotima’s Ladder of Love and a textbook titled Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues. All of them were flagged by the university because they supposedly violate the updated restrictions on content that “advocate[s] for” particular views on race, sex or gender.

“How can we possibly teach philosophy without being allowed to discuss Plato, even if some of Plato’s ideas are a little bit controversial?” Peterson said in an interview with The New York Times.

Peterson also emailed university officials to appeal the decision. He asserted his coursework “does not ‘advocate’ any ideology.” Instead, he said, “I teach students how to structure and evaluate arguments commonly raised in discussions of contemporary moral issues.”

Email banning Plato

In a statement released on Jan. 7, the faculty union—American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Chapter at Texas A&M University-College Station—condemned what they called the “banning of Plato.”

“At a public university, this action raises serious legal concerns, including viewpoint discrimination and violations of constitutionally protected academic freedom,” the statement said.

“Beyond the legal implications, the moral stakes are profound. Silencing 2,500-year-old ideas from one of the world’s most influential thinkers betrays the mission of higher education and denies students the opportunity to engage critically with the foundations of Western thought. A research university that censors Plato abandons its obligation to truth, inquiry, and the public trust—and should not be regarded as a serious institution of higher learning.”

Professors also expressed concern that the rules are wildly subjective, leaving many instructors unsure of how to move forward. “Where is the line between teaching and advocating?” sociologist Dr. Nancy Plankey-Videla, who serves as the director of graduate studies at TAMU, asked the Board of Regents at a November meeting on the rule change, with no immediate response.

The controversy comes after a massive free speech scandal rocked the university last year. A student surreptitiously recorded a lecture from a professor of literature who talked about gender identity; on the whiteboard, an image of the gender unicorn can be seen.

The student asserts that teaching about gender diversity is illegal, which is categorically false. “According to [President Trump], there’s only two genders,” the student can be heard saying. “I am not going to participate in this because it’s not legal, and I don’t want to promote something that is against our president’s laws as well as against my religious beliefs.”

After Republican lawmakers fomented a hate-fueled frenzy against the professor, she, several department officials, and the university president were either fired, demoted or forced to resign amidst the ensuing media fallout.

Erin in the Morning inquired about other works on Texas A&M syllabi that “advocate[s] for” a specific world view when it comes to sex and gender, including the Bible (which explicitly advocates for multiple kinds of gender-related surgeries), or medical textbooks that acknowledge the undisputed biological reality of, say, the existence of intersex people, or the psychological harms caused by denying trans people access to gender-affirming care.

TAMU did not reply to the request for comment.