Texas A&M cancelled his graduate ‘Ethics’ course on flimsy DEI grounds, claims instructor
by Piyush Mathur
A graduate-level course in Ethics was cancelled by the US-based Texas A&M University, according to a January 15, 2026 LinkedIn post made by the academic who had offered the course.
A full professor at the university’s Bush School of Government & Public Service, Dr. Leonard Bright wrote the post to inform his followers of this development, which left him exasperated. ‘I was publicly notified today that my graduate-level ethics course has been canceled by Texas A&M University’, he wrote.
According to Bright, in its decision the administration cited his ‘refusal’ to be transparent about how much content his course had on ‘issues related to race, gender, and sexuality’—an accusation that he refutes. ‘I explicitly stated that “the issues of race, gender, and sexuality will be addressed throughout the course as relevant to the subject matter”,’ he stresses in his post.
This is a screenshot of Dr. Leonard Bright’s LinkedIn post made on January 15, 2026. (Image credit: Leonard Bright & LinkedIn)
The news of the course’s cancellation caught Bright completely by surprise—since the administration sent out its notification via a university-wide email system that included students as recipients.
Bright has thus called the decision ‘yet another example of increasingly creative efforts to censor faculty at Texas A&M University.’
Bright’s post has so far received only highly supportive feedback, with some former students giving strong testimonials to the course’s educational value for them.
Many comments criticised the university for its decision and tactics, with one person from the judicial sector noting, ‘This says a lot about Texas A&M - and nothing good.’
In his own responses to the extensive feedback to his post, Bright has repeatedly stressed that he would fight the university’s decision.
He also expressed his openness to one of the commentators’ suggestion to start an online petition asking the university to rescind its decision and correct its public statement accusing him of not being transparent about his course content.
Thoughtfox has not independently verified Bright’s claims, and he has not yet shared a copy of the university’s communication regarding his course’s cancellation. (An email requesting comment has been sent to Texas A&M’s press office with the link to this report.)
It may be useful to note that some courses were cancelled on the US military academic campuses last year for similar reasons—a line of executive action often referred to as the anti-DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) drive or DEI purge instigated by President Donald Trump’s administration in his second term.
Established in 1876, Texas A&M is a public university located in College Station, Texas.
A recent publication of Bright’s is the book RIG 'EM: A Case Study of Leadership Failure in the Tenure and Promotion Process (Bright Media Couple LLC, 2025).
To access the full thread of Bright’s LinkedIn post, click on (or copy and paste) the following link:
One could also click on the screenshot of his post included in this report to access the same thread.