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... The course, PHIL 111 Contemporary Moral Issues, had its syllabus altered to remove a section featuring content university administration claims contains race and gender ideology, subjects that were defined and unanimously approved to be restricted from instruction in November 2025.

One text from "Symposium" that was stricken from the syllabus includes Aristophanes' Myth, which contends that humans were once single beings that were separated into two sexes after ancient gods became fearful of their combined power, posing questions about sexuality, soulmates and the nature of love. Another, Diotima's Ladder of Love, assigns a hierarchical structure to different forms of love and attraction.

Supporters of the changes argue that the relatively progressive ideas of gender and sexuality presented in the readings fall out of compliance with the introduced changes to Section 8.1. The professor who instructs the course, Martin Peterson, Ph.D., believes his First Amendment rights are being violated.

"Please note that my course does not advocate' any ideology; I teach students how to structure and evaluate arguments commonly raised in discussions of contemporary moral issues," Peterson wrote in an email to department head Kristi Sweet, Ph.D., that made rounds online. "If you interpret System Rule 08.01 § 2.1(b) as prohibiting these topics, I would like to remind you that the U.S. Constitution protects my course content." ...