Higher Education

‘Anti-Muslim racism’: Report finds race, gender, social-justice courses at OU and OSU

September 25, 2026

Ray Carter

A new report from the Young America’s Foundation, which examined college courses nationwide, including in Oklahoma, says many universities continue to promote Marxist and Critical Race Theory-derived ideas in the classroom.

The “Comedy & Tragedy Report—2026-2027” found that courses at Oklahoma’s two major universities focus on topics that include “queer religion,” “social justice,” and “anti-Muslim racism.”

“While some universities have renamed or dismantled their Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion offices and have become more cautious about publicly advertising their diversity programs, little has changed beneath the surface,” the report stated. “The names may have changed, but the ideology remains. Across campuses, leftist faculty and administrators continue to dominate academic departments and classrooms, creating intellectual monocultures where students are routinely exposed to one ideological worldview while conservative ideas and competing perspectives are marginalized or dismissed.”

The report argued the identified courses represent more than a waste of time and money for students.

“Behind the bizarre course titles and identity-focused curricula is a serious effort to shape how an entire generation understands America, history, race, sex, politics, and society,” the report stated. “When universities consistently promote one ideological perspective while excluding or discrediting others, they undermine the intellectual diversity that should be at the heart of higher education.”

At the University of Oklahoma, the report highlighted several courses, including “Queer Religion,” which is described as a course that “explores questions including: What is the relationship between queer life and religious life? Is religion ever queer? Is queerness ever religious? What do scholars mean when they label religion (or other objects of study) as queer or queer-able?”

Another OU course, “Anti-Muslim Racism,” is described as allowing students to “examine anti-Muslim racism in the United States while simultaneously understanding anti-Muslim racism as a global project.”

“We will further investigate how anti-Muslim racism is implicated in imperialist projects in the Middle East,” the OU course description states. “Examining anti-Muslim sentiment through the lens of racism will show how both race and religion come together to inform present-day structural inequality and violence.”

Another OU course, “Diversity of Biological Sex Characteristics,” is described as including study of “the biology of intersex and transgender people,” along with discussion of “human infant genital surgeries and participation in athletic competitions.”

Another OU course, “Environmental Justice,” covers “environmental injustices related to environmental hazards (e.g., air and water pollution, toxic and hazardous waste, industrial byproducts) as well as injustices related to environmental benefits (e.g., access to parks, greenery, and clean environments).”

“Throughout the course, we will engage with environmental racism,” the course description states.

At Oklahoma State University, the Young America’s Foundation report noted that students may take “LGBTQ Lives in the United States,” which is described as an introduction to the study of “lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer+ (LGBTQ) experiences, representations, cultural practices, and resistance to oppression in the contemporary United States.”

Another OSU course, “Power, Oppression, & Privilege,” introduces students to “various concepts, insights, and methodological tools within feminist philosophy.”

According to the OSU course description, the questions explored in the course include the following: “What insights can feminist thinking bring to bear on questions of health care, sport, dating, and sexuality? What does an ethical response to injustice require?”

OSU students who take “Race and Reproduction in the U.S.” are required to examine “the inextricable relationship between race relations and reproductive politics.”

Another OSU course, “Social Justice Politics,” examines “race, ethnicity, class, gender, sexuality, religion, age, ability” in “a number of realms, particularly the political.”

“Specific social justice issues discussed include immigration reform, religious accommodations in the workplace, the gender gap in wages and political office holding, income and wealth inequality, racial and ethnic discrimination, same-sex marriage, ageism and disability access,” the course description states.

OSU students who take “Religion, Race and Social Justice” will examine “the role of religion in the history and understanding of race, as well as how religion has been leveraged in relation to challenges of social justice.”

In a statement, the University of Oklahoma defended the courses as part of a much broader array offered at the school.

“At the University of Oklahoma, we teach students how to think critically, not what to think. As a comprehensive research university, OU offers thousands of courses across a broad range of disciplines and perspectives, all subject to regular review,” the OU statement said. “The seven courses selected and cited in this report are not required but are offerings students may choose based on their individual academic interests and goals.”

Oklahoma State University did not respond to a request for comment on the report.

The Young America’s Foundation said a three-credit-hour course at the University of Oklahoma costs $507 (in-state) or $2,214 (out-of-state), while a three-credit-hour course at Oklahoma State University costs $543 (in-state) or $2,094 (out-of-state).

Tuition rates at universities have continued to rise despite growing concern about the quality and value of the education they provide, the report said.

“At the same time, the cost of attending these institutions continues to climb, leaving students with ever-growing levels of debt, while questions about the value and quality of their education become increasingly difficult to ignore,” the Young America’s Foundation report stated. “Rather than preparing students to grapple with competing ideas, challenge prevailing assumptions, and engage with Americans of all viewpoints, too many of America’s self-described ‘premier’ universities are producing graduates who have been taught to reject, rather than understand, viewpoints that conflict with their own.”

[For more stories about higher education in Oklahoma, visit AimHigherOK.com.]