In 2021, Chris Rufo, the architect of the modern assault on higher education, revealed his strategy with chilling transparency: “We have successfully frozen their brand — ‘critical race theory’ — into public conversation and are steadily driving up negative perceptions. We will eventually turn it toxic, as we put all of the various cultural insanities under that brand category.”
Dr. Michael Gavin
As we move through 2026, it is clear that we miscalculated these shots across the bow. Curriculum was just a wedge issue to open the door and hijack governance, freedom, and democracy.
By leveraging a disciplined narrative to align political, financial, and educational power, a movement has coalesced to strip higher education of its democratic mission. The goal is no longer just to criticize the university, but to own it, and in doing so, attack the fabric of our society that has fueled economic prosperity for generations and remains the biggest economic differentiator for Americans today.
The Pivot: From Legislation to the Boardroom
The initial phase of this movement relied on legislation, epitomized by Governor Ron DeSantis’s "Anti-Woke" agenda in Florida. However, legislative attempts hit a wall: the U.S. Constitution. Courts repeatedly struck down these laws, with one ruling stating: “Defendants argue that, under this Act, professors enjoy ‘academic freedom’ so long as they express only those viewpoints of which the state approves. This is positively dystopian.”
Facing constitutional headwinds, the strategy pivoted. If they could not legislate the curriculum, they would capture the institutions. DeSantis and his counterparts appointed partisan loyalists to boards of trustees and threatened budget vetoes to infiltrate colleges and universities.
We saw this first at New College of Florida. In 2023, DeSantis appointed Rufo himself to the board. Their first order of business was firing President Patricia Okker, who valued the freedom to learn the full realities of the world, which requires exploration of content imbued with race, sexuality, gender, and nationality.
The Escalation: The Texas Model
This playbook was exported to Texas, where Governor Greg Abbott refined the approach. Senate Bill 37 was geared at the very same goals of Florida's STOP Woke Act. In fact, Abbott referred to wokeness in his narrative of the bill, stating that “woke college professors have too much influence over who is hired to educate our kids.”
Like DeSantis, Abbott chose a single institution — Texas A&M — to focus on dismantling higher education. There, he replaced four of the nine trustees with campaign contributors who supported his election. By fall 2025, all but the student board member were appointed by Abbott.
The consequences were immediate and continue. At Texas A&M, the hiring of Kathleen McElroy, a renowned journalist, was torpedoed by the board because she had studied race. In emails with each other, trustees admitted to interference not based on merit, but ideology: "[W]e were going to start a journalism department to get high-quality conservative Aggie students into the journalism world to help direct our message,” regent Jay Graham wrote to regent David Baggett. He continued, “This won't happen with this type of hire!"
The university recently announced the closure of its women’s and gender studies program and shift in the content of many other courses to comply with new policies that limit discussion of “race or gender ideology.” Prior, and in another example of performative outrage, General Mark Welsh, a conservative four-star Air Force General and President of Texas A&M, found himself under fire simply for having supported increasing the number of female recruits in the military.
Now, two-thirds of board members of all public institutions in Texas have been appointed by Abbott, who has publicly stated his desire to “target…professors who are more focused on pushing leftist ideologies rather than preparing students to lead our nation” and that “we must end indoctrination and return to education fundamentals at all levels.” The strategy they’ve crafted to do this, of course, is built on ideological indoctrination.
While it is common practice for governors to appoint board members, the litmus test has ideally been commitment to the mission of higher education and the institution, not a political ideology. This same playbook of using ideological litmus tests, not merit, to make hiring decisions is playing out at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, where Emily Suski’s appointment to lead the university’s school of law was rescinded because of an amicus brief she filed regarding a lawsuit about defense of transgender athletes.
These are examples not of governance, but censorship by the purse string.
The Cost: Brain Drain and Economic Self-Sabotage
Higher education is one of this country’s greatest drivers of economic growth. Colleges and universities educate the next generation of the workforce, train leaders, and engage in research that leads to society-altering discoveries. Their economic multipliers make them one of the best investments this country can make — the lithium battery, Google, and nearly half of all pharmaceutical drugs approved by the FDA between 2020-2024 all originated on an American university campus.
Despite proclamations lauding the business environments of Florida and Texas, their GDP per capita lag far behind those of New York, Washington, and California. This ideological crusade is causing, and will continue to cause, measurable harm to states that pursue it. The economic and demographic fallout is stark:
● Florida: Despite public colleges contributing $56.7 billion to the economy, the state has seen an exodus of young people. 500,000 young residents have left the state, and 12% of prospective students state they will not attend Florida schools due to these policies.
● Texas: Texas A&M graduates contribute $13.1 billion to the tax base, yet 52% of students have considered transferring out of state, and 78% have considered leaving Texas entirely post-graduation.
In addition to pure economic figures, a USC Race and Equity Center Report indicates LGBTQ+ students in Texas feel significantly less safe than peers in other states, contributing to a fractured campus climate. Stripping people of their sense of safety is yet another tactic to deliver a clear message to select student groups: you’re not welcome.
The Response: A New Alliance
These events are tactics in a synchronized effort to dismantle the self-governance of higher education, a pillar and steward of American democracy and society.
To counter this, we have formed The Alliance for Higher Education.
The Alliance, three years in development now, is a coalition of leaders from legal, civil rights, and educational spheres. We enter the space of higher education organizations with a unique constituency and seek to be the voice defending and advancing freedoms fundamental to our nation and higher education’s purpose. For the nation to thrive and for higher education to continue to serve as a vehicle for democracy, it’s essential colleges and universities have the freedom to foster the exchange of ideas without censorship; students, researchers, experts, and employees are able to advance their work free from partisan interference; and institutions have the autonomy to self-govern.
Already, decades of damage has been done, and the fabric of society is eroding as weaponized bureaucracy takes over boards and invades cities across the nation to cause chaos. But higher education has always been this country’s answer to division.
During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Morrill Act, which would lead to America’s land grant universities. In this legislation, he sought a system that would expand the middle class and equip residents—and the states in which they lived—with the skills and expertise necessary to thrive in the years ahead and to lead the world. This remains at the core of higher education’s calling. Our institutions are the bedrock of democracy. We invite you to join The Alliance, not just to save our colleges, but to protect our democracy and freedom for the next generation to think and learn for themselves.
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Dr. Mike Gavin is president and CEO of the Alliance for Higher Education.
