The changes and cancellations of the courses come months after a viral video of the a student facing a teacher Because of his lessons, Texas A&M, one of the largest universities in the country, is in turmoil.

University officials tried to reassure the campus that the effects of the new policy would be minimal, affecting only a small portion of the classes offered and that the class cancellation would not create any obstacles that would prevent students from staying on course to graduate.

“Strong governance and standards protect academic integrity and restore public trust, guaranteeing that a degree from Texas A&M means something to our students and the people who hire them,” Interim President Tommy Williams said in a news release. “That’s our focus in this process and will remain our focus as we move forward.”

But faculty and students, hundreds gathered on campus Thursday night to protest changes made under the new policy, accused Texas A&M of violating academic and student freedom.

“They have reduced this marketplace of ideas that now promote or promote a certain perspective when it comes to race, gender, and sexuality. And that perspective is literally erasing the experiences of people of color, the LGBTQ+ community,” said Leonard Bright, president of the American Association of University Professors A&M chapter.

Friday’s announcement follows a university-wide review of 5,400 courses after Texas A&M University System regents in November approved the new policy.

Texas A&M said the six courses canceled represent only 0.11% of the courses offered this semester. These include courses at the Bush School of Government and Public Service; the College of Arts and Sciences; the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; and the College of Education and Human Development.

The university said teachers were given the opportunity to request exceptions for some courses. Of the 54 courses sent to Williams, he granted 48 exceptions.

Texas A&M said the decision to end the women’s and gender studies program was based in part on limited student interest in the program.

A&M said Friday that Williams would not be available for media interviews.

“I know that recent policy changes in the Texas A&M University System have upset many, and I understand your concerns. At the same time, our shared responsibility is clear: our students,” Williams said in a statement on January 12.

The new policy appears to be the first time the public university system in Texas has set rules on what teachers can discuss in their classrooms on the topics of race and gender. Some Texas university systems have also placed restrictions on classroom instruction or have begun internal reviews of course offerings in light of the new state law.

Bright, whose graduate-level ethics course was canceled under the new policy, says that despite the university’s assurances, the changes on campus have created an atmosphere of fear in which teachers censor themselves and what they teach to avoid any problems.

“They’re sending a chilling message to teachers that we’re engaging in a woke ideology, and … that people are going to be fired as a result of teaching these subjects that some conservatives would certainly disagree with,” said Bright, who is a professor at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service.

At Thursday’s campus protest, Martin Peterson, a professor of philosophy at Texas A&M, said that under the new policy, he is not allowed to teach certain works from Plato.

“No one can reasonably say that a philosophy professor shouldn’t be teaching Plato in philosophy class. But that’s what happened,” Peterson said.

Williams said earlier that Texas A&M did not ban Plato.

Texas A&M’s new policy comes after the September firing of Melissa McCoul, a senior lecturer in the English department at Texas A&M University, after a video was made public in which she argued with a female student about gender identity taught in a children’s literature class. McCoul’s firing came after political pressure from Republican lawmakers, including Gov. Greg Abbott.

Shortly after McCoul’s graduation, then-president of Texas A&M, Mark A. Welsh III, resigned.

Republican state Rep. Brian Harrison, who has been critical of Texas A&M, on Friday applauded the decision to end the women’s and gender studies program.

“After years of lobbying and exposing the department’s woke agenda, I’m proud to deliver another big conservative victory for Texas taxpayers against transgender indoctrination!” Harrison said in a post on the social media site X.

Texas A&M is located in College Station, about 95 miles (153 kilometers) northwest of Houston.