On Aug. 20, the University of Houston System (UHS) Board of Regents unanimously decided in their quarterly meeting to cut 133 core curriculum courses for the 2026-27 school year in compliance with Senate Bill 37 (SB 37).

Some of the removed courses will remain as part of the elective curriculum, but run the risk of being cut if they continuously have low enrollment. Critics of the decision call it “a slow death.”

The SB 37 asks each university to judge and implement its compliance certification deadline on Jan. 1, 2027.

During the UHS Board of Regents meeting, numerous UH stakeholders spoke out ahead of their vote in an open forum. Many echoed the lack of transparency and clarification over the removal of classes.

UH student Vice President, Ian Kariuki, asked the board to, “Please keep these core curriculum [classes]…we as an institution, as you as the board, can be remembered for creating history against something that legislators in Texas fought to silence the students of our diverse perspective.”

Richard Armstrong, UH Director of Classical Studies, said, “Our classical studies program had six courses in the core. Under the proposed changes, we have one.”

Armstrong asked for clarification on why a popular core course such as Greek and Roman Myth of Heroes was cut. He claims that the course does align with the SB 37 focus on Western Civilization.

Maria Gonzalez, an associate English professor at UH, stated that she was assured that, as part of the Provost Core Curriculum Review Committee, they would be able to appeal the decision to the changed core curriculum. This was not honored.

“Our committee was told all discussions should remain confidential. In exchange, we would participate in a fair and transparent process,” said Gonzalez. “Today, we can see that the outcome was already predetermined since our general counsel’s narrow interpretation of SB 37 guaranteed certain narrow decisions.”

UH is a public university owned by Texas and receives partial funding from the state. Many online theorists theorize that UH’s over-compliance with SB 37 could be to fly under the state’s radar.

Along with the changes made to the UH core curriculum, the board also approved changes to the core courses at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. One class was removed from its core.

The last communication from the Office of the Provost, sent out on Aug. 18, shared a proposed list of what courses could be “recommended for inclusion”. As of the publication date, no update has disclosed what specific courses were cut since the UH Board of Regents’ decision.

To view the UHS Board of Regents meeting in its entirety, click here.