Texas Christian University (TCU) will shutter two race and gender studies departments at the end of the academic year, after fewer than a dozen undergraduates were enrolled in the programs.
TCU will close its Department of Women & Gender Studies and the Department of Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies in June 2026, according to a TCU statement. A spokesperson for the Fort Worth-based university told TCU 360 the decision was based on low enrollment numbers rather than any political decision.
According to the school, nine undergraduate students were enrolled as majors in Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies, while two undergraduates were Women & Gender Studies majors as of fall 2025.
All faculty, major and minor students, and classes will move to the oversight of the English department once the departments are dissolved next year. Students will still have the option to major or minor in both programs through different departments, according to TCU.
As part of its Women & Gender Studies program, students are taught concepts such as “social construction of gender, sex, and sexuality, intersectionality, [and] privilege and oppression” along with instruction on how to “create and execute activist projects focused on social justice.”
According to the Comparative Race and Ethnic Studies department page, it aims to “decolonize higher education” and educate students for the purpose of “ending various systems of oppression in every facet of our shared society.”
The Christian Post reached out to TCU for comment on Wednesday ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
The decision to dissolve the two liberal arts departments is the latest shakeup to hit diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives at TCU following the departure of the chancellor’s senior advisor and chief inclusion officer in September.
Dr. Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, who was hired in March 2022, is “no longer with TCU and two important university functions have been realigned to departments where they have incredible support,” a TCU spokesperson said at the time.
In April, TCU eliminated its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and scrubbed any related content from its website. TCU’s Burnett School of Medicine and Harris College of Nursing and Health Sciences also removed their own DEI pages.
Shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a ban on DEI agencies in all state agencies — a move that mirrored Trump’s own executive order on DEI.
Last month, TCU disputed claims it canceled a scheduled Turning Point USA event featuring Chloe Cole, a woman who temporarily identified as a male before “de-transitioning” back to her biological sex.
High-profile Republicans, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, denounced the move, which TCU denied was politically motivated. TCU told Fox News in a statement it was given short notice and that the requested space was already booked.
