UT Austin faculty keep up silent noon walks protesting program closures and curriculum changes

As of 11:32 a.m. ET, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026

Faculty members at the University of Texas at Austin are nearly a month into a series of silent campus walks protesting department consolidations, the planned elimination of several majors and what they call a loss of academic freedom. The walks start at the Tower at noon, Monday through Thursday, and last 15 minutes. Participants wear black and carry signs, including some reading "RIP Academic Freedom".

The walks are organized by the UT chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and began on Sept. 21. The chapter's president, Karma Chávez, a professor of Mexican American and Latina/o Studies, told Chron the walks have grown to about 20 faculty members from several schools. She also told Chron the university has not contacted the chapter about them.

"There's a part of it that really is just a place to put our grief, so there's a piece of this that really is ritualistic in that way," Chávez told Chron. In the same interview she said, "So it's not really a protest, exactly," adding, "It's about grief, but maybe it's also about accountability and visibility".

What the faculty are protesting

In a Feb. 12 message, UT President Jim Davis announced that seven College of Liberal Arts departments would be combined into two. One of them, the new Department of Social and Cultural Analysis, merges African and African Diaspora Studies, American Studies, Mexican American and Latina/Latino Studies, and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Davis said the college's 26 departments had student-to-faculty ratios ranging "from less than 2-to-1 to almost 60-to-1." He also said many subjects "do not necessarily need to be isolated as their own small academic departments".

In September, KUT reported that UT plans to eliminate several majors in those areas, including African and African diaspora studies, Mexican American and Latina/o studies, and women's and gender studies. University spokesperson Mike Rosen told KUT that UT is no longer enrolling new students in those majors, and that "students currently enrolled in those majors will be able to complete their degree".

The faculty are also objecting to a core-curriculum overhaul Davis presented in August. The Daily Texan reported that Davis has said the new core would reduce core designations for courses with "narrow" topics. Chávez told the student paper she worries the new core could make it harder for students to transfer credits from other Texas schools.

Chávez also told Chron that faculty have had less opportunity to raise their grievances with the university. Chron reported that UT's Faculty Council was abolished in August 2025, and Chávez said the AAUP chapter is "ignored by the administration". UT Austin did not respond to Chron's request for comment. The Daily Texan reported on Oct. 11 that Davis and the university had not released a public statement on the major consolidations, though the university had answered questions about the affected degree programs.

Why it matters

The protests at Texas's flagship campus come as state universities cut programs tied to race, ethnicity and gender. Chron noted that Senate Bill 17, passed in 2023, forced state-funded schools to close diversity, equity and inclusion offices. KUT reported that Texas A&M eliminated its women's and gender studies degree earlier this year. It also reported that the UT Board of Regents approved a policy in May that makes it easier for university presidents to cut academic programs and the positions in them.