In a move that has ignited fierce debate across academic circles, Texas A&M University has removed Plato’s “Symposium” from a required philosophy course, marking what critics call an unprecedented act of censorship against one of Western civilization’s foundational thinkers.
The 2,500-year-old text was stripped from Professor Martin Peterson’s Philosophy 111 course (“Contemporary Moral Issues”) after university officials determined that the ancient Greek philosopher’s discussions about gender relations violated new ideological restrictions on core curriculum content.
Ancient Philosophy Meets Modern Politics
Peterson, who has taught the course since 2014, was given a stark choice by department chair Dr. Kristi Sweet: remove Plato’s writings and modules on “Race and Gender Ideology” or be reassigned to teach a different course. “He talks about sex and gender relations, and he does not express views that we today always agree with, but it’s an important perspective,” Peterson explained of Plato’s work. “My department head apparently thought that he is advocating gender ideology.”
The censored excerpts from Symposium—passages that discuss patriarchy, masculinity, gender identity, and the human condition—have been replaced with New York Times reporting on Peterson’s own situation. Additionally, lectures previously titled “Race and Gender Ideology” have been renamed “Free Speech” and “Academic Freedom,” a change dripping with irony not lost on critics.
“Philosophers must be allowed to teach Plato, all of his texts, not just some of them. Even the most conservative thinkers believe that Plato is an important figure,” Peterson stated.
The situation at Texas A&M reflects broader tensions playing out across the American academic landscape. Approximately 200 courses in the university’s College of Arts and Sciences have been flagged or canceled for gender or race-related content following a sweeping syllabus review in January 2026, according to the Texas Tribune.
New Rules, New Reality
Under Texas A&M’s recently implemented policies, core curriculum courses cannot “advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity,” while non-core courses can teach these topics with an exemption. The Plato removal stems directly from these restrictions.
What constitutes “gender ideology” in a 2,400-year-old philosophical text? That’s precisely what has academics concerned. The Texas A&M chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has forcefully condemned the university’s decision, citing serious legal and ethical concerns.
“At a public university, this action raises serious legal concerns, including viewpoint discrimination and violations of constitutionally protected academic freedom,” the AAUP warned. “Beyond the legal implications, the moral stakes are profound. Silencing 2,500-year-old ideas from one of the world’s most influential thinkers betrays the mission of higher education.”
Political Crossfire
The controversy has predictably fallen along political lines. State Representative Brian Harrison, a Republican from Midlothian and A&M alumnus, claimed the situation was manufactured by liberal academics who intentionally placed Plato into sections they knew would be removed.
“Liberal academics at Texas A&M have manufactured a scandal by slipping a few sentences from Plato into a transgenderism section they knew would get cut,” Harrison asserted. “No, Texas A&M hasn’t banned Plato, but for the first time in over a decade, we’re finally forcing real constraints on transgender indoctrination.”
University officials have maintained that the decision doesn’t amount to a complete ban on teaching Plato, but rather targets specific excerpts in specific course contexts.
Still, the move comes amid broader upheaval at the institution. In recent months, Texas A&M has fired a professor (Melissa McCoul), demoted department heads, and even ousted retired U.S. Air Force General Mark Welsh from his position as school president amid the ongoing controversy over gender and race curriculum policies.
The Meaning of a University
For Peterson and many of his colleagues, the issue transcends political divisions and strikes at the very purpose of higher education. “Plato founded the Academy, the very first university,” Peterson noted. “If we cannot freely discuss Plato, we no longer have a university.”
The censored Plato texts include passages from his Socratic dialogue Symposium that discuss concepts fundamental to understanding human relationships and identity—topics that have been debated for millennia across cultures and political systems.
As the controversy continues to reverberate through academic and political circles, one ancient irony stands out: Plato himself was deeply concerned with censorship and the boundaries of acceptable speech in education—questions now being applied to his own works, two and a half millennia after they were written.
