Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III has announced his resignation barely a week after a viral video set off a storm of political outrage that ended with the firing of senior lecturer Melissa McCoul and the removal of both a dean and department head.
The controversy began in Professor McCoul’s children’s literature course when a student objected to her teaching of Jude Saves the World, a novel whose main character is nonbinary. The student insisted the lesson was “illegal” and against religious belief. McCoul, who had successfully taught the text in previous semesters, maintained that her teaching was both lawful and academically appropriate.
For the record, it's not illegal since anti-DEI, Senate Bill 17 allows us as faculty to continue to teach and conduct research. The moment was nevertheless secretly recorded, uploaded to social media, and swiftly seized upon by political figures eager to weaponize it.
Welsh—a retired four-star general and former member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff—soon found himself under heavy fire from state leaders including Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Rep. Brian Harrison, who demanded his ouster and the dismantling of all so-called “DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination” in Texas universities. His attempt to appease critics by firing McCoul and demoting administrators did not silence the uproar. In the end, he stepped aside.
Now, faculty and students at Texas A&M face an unsettling reality: a campus climate increasingly shaped by political dictates rather than academic judgment. McCoul, by all accounts a respected instructor with more than a decade of teaching experience, is fighting her termination through an appeal.
From what I have gathered about Welsh’s own defense of academic freedom—including a thoughtful LinkedIn post shared by Dr. Leonard Bright—I cannot help but wonder if his willingness to stand by this principle hastened his exit. It is sobering to realize that one of our state’s largest and most prestigious public university could not shield its president from partisan attack when he appeared to affirm what is, after all, a constitutional right.
As assaults on higher education escalate across the nation, Welsh’s resignation is a stark warning. It signals not only the erosion of academic freedom but also the weakening of democratic norms. The question we face is urgent: Will Texas universities defend the right of professors to teach and students to learn without fear, or will they surrender to political interference? The future of higher education in this state—and the public it serves—depends on the answer.
—Angela Valenzuela
Texas A&M president resigns after instructor’s firing over gender teachings
President Mark A. Welsh III is stepping down after a video of a student accusing an instructor of illegally teaching “gender ideology” led to the instructor’s firing.
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Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III (Mark Felix/For The Washington Post) |
HOUSTON — The president of Texas A&M University’s flagship campus is stepping down a little over a week after a viral video of a student accusing an instructor of illegally teaching “gender ideology” led to the instructor’s firing, the removal of a dean and department head, as well as calls for investigations — including by the Justice Department.
President Mark A. Welsh III is a retired four-star general who trained as a fighter pilot and later served as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He has also held roles including associate director for military affairs at the CIA, commandant of cadets at the U.S. Air Force Academy and dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at A&M.
Welsh took over at Texas A&M two years ago after M. Katherine Banks retired as university president in the wake of a scandal involving the botched hiring of journalism professor Kathleen McElroy. That job offer provoked backlash from the Texas GOP because of McElroy’s work on diversity, equity and inclusion programs, which Texas has since banned.
Welsh will step down Friday, according to a statement released by Texas A&M late Thursday.
“Today, President Welsh has submitted his resignation, and both the Board of Regents and I agree that this is the right moment for change,” Texas A&M Chancellor Glenn Hegar said in a separate statement posted on X.
Hegar, a former GOP state lawmaker, thanked Welsh for his service and contributions to the university. He said the nine-member Board of Regents — appointed by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) — will conduct a nationwide search for Welsh’s successor and appoint an interim president “to guide the university during this transition.”
On Friday, Welsh posted a statement that shed little light on why he decided to resign, apart from the recent controversy.
“When I was first appointed as President of Texas A&M University, I told then Chancellor John Sharp and our Board of Regents that I would serve as well as I possibly could until it was time for someone else to take over. Over the past few days, it’s become clear that now is that time,” Welsh wrote.
“It was the right decision for him to do for himself, the university, students, and faculty,” said Leonard Bright, a professor at Texas A&M’s Bush School of Government and Public Service, in a text message. “Now, we look to the university and (board of regents) to conduct an earnest search for a replacement who will fully support the values of academic freedom and protect the university from political interference in our classrooms.”
State Rep. Brian Harrison (R), who posted the viral video and audio recordings of Welsh while repeatedly demanding his ouster, celebrated his resignation Thursday on X.
“As the first elected official to call for him to be fired, this news is welcome, although overdue,” Harrison wrote. “Now … END ALL DEI AND LGBTQ INDOCTRINATION IN TEXAS!!”
The video excerpt that contributed to Welsh stepping down was shared by Harrison on Sept. 8. It was filmed on July 29 during a children’s literature class, but neither the student — whom Harrison declined to identify because they had requested anonymity — nor instructor Melissa McCoul appear on camera.
In a statement emailed to The Washington Post by her attorney this week, McCoul said the class was on the second of three days reading a middle-grade contemporary fiction novel called “Jude Saves the World” that she had taught in “several previous iterations” of the class.
“The main character, Jude, is nonbinary. The plot largely deals with Jude’s difficulties with ADHD in school, their relationship with their friends, mother, and grandparents, and their friend group’s attempt to build an LGBTQ-accepting social club in their town,” she said.
McCoul said that on the first day, she had provided “contextual background information on sex, sexuality and gender as they applied to children’s literature, as well as the ways things like toys and clothing are often gendered,” and was recapping those points when the video was filmed.
The footage begins as the student interrupts to insist the lesson is “not legal, and I don’t want to promote something that is against our president’s laws.”
“According to our president, there’s only two genders,” the student says, alleging that the instruction “very much goes against, not only myself, but a lot of people’s religious beliefs.”
In response, McCoul can be heard telling the student that “if you are uncomfortable in this class, you do have the right to leave. What we are doing is not illegal.”
She then referred the student to a department head, noting that officials were aware of the concerns. “I’m not convinced that your proposal will be effective in stopping me from teaching things that are biologically true, because I do have the legal and ethical authority, professional expertise in this classroom,” McCoul said, before telling the student to leave.
A day later, McCoul was fired. Her attorney Amanda Reichek, a Democratic former Texas judge, has released a statement calling McCoul “a highly regarded senior lecturer,” noting that she had “over a decade of teaching experience under her belt when she was summarily terminated” and is appealing her firing.
After the video went viral, Welsh also removed McCoul’s dean and department head, but that did not satisfy Harrison or Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), a staunch ally of President Donald Trump.
“His ambivalence on the issue and his dismissal of the student’s concerns by immediately taking the side of the professor is unacceptable,” Patrick posted on X last week.
Abbott had already threatened to fire Welsh in January after the university’s business school invited doctoral students and faculty to a conference designed to promote classroom diversity. Welsh responded by pulling the university out of the conference.
Several other presidents of major U.S. universities have also been forced out or resigned under pressure in recent years, as elected officials and conservative activists — including in the Trump administration — increasingly scrutinize campus culture and decisions.
Trump and his administration have this year attacked Columbia, Harvard, Northwestern, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Virginia. Texas A&M, with an enrollment of more than 79,000, is the largest state school to face such backlash and is among the largest universities in the country.
Texas GOP leaders have passed laws this year strengthening their control over university curriculums, hiring and protests.
Susan Svrluga contributed to this report from Washington.
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