OU’s American Association of University Professors asked the OU administration and OU Faculty Senate to publicly and immediately denounce the “censorship” Oklahoma House Bill 1775 causes in teaching and research at the university on Monday.
Oklahoma Rep. Jacob Rosecrants (D-Norman) filed House Bill 1031, or the Restoration of Sanity in Education Act, on Monday which would repeal HB 1775.
HB 1775 bans schools from knowingly or unknowingly teaching that a person, because of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist or oppressive.
In a press release, OU AAUP wrote HB 1775 is based on “no academic expertise” and “justifies attacks on courses and research that allegedly promotes ‘race or sex stereotyping or a bias on purely ideological reasons.’
“In short, we call on everyone at OU to smell the ROSEs and provide ‘excellence in teaching, research and creative activity, and service to the state and society,’” OU AAUP wrote in the release. “This, after all, is one of OU's publicly stated goals. HB 1775 and similar legislation dangerously and disturbingly does the opposite and degrades teaching and research in crucial areas that currently impact society including race, gender, and sexual identity.”
This article was edited by Alexia Aston and Jazz Wolfe. Grace Rhodes and Nikkie Aisha copy edited this story.
