Texas A&M President Resigns Amid Fallout Over Botched Hiring of Black Journalism Professor

Visitors walk along a pond behind the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library Center on the campus of Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, on Dec. 2, 2018. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Texas University A&M President M. Katherine Banks resigned from the school following a resolution passed by the Faculty Senate to investigate the mishandling of the hiring of former New York Times journalist Kathleen McElroy.

Ms. Banks submitted her resignation late Thursday, according to a university news release Friday morning. She became the school’s 26th president two years ago after 10 years of service as Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Engineering.

“The recent challenges regarding Dr. [Kathleen] McElroy have made it clear to me that I must retire immediately. The negative press is a distraction from the wonderful work being done here,” Ms. Banks wrote in a letter.

In June, the university announced it would be hiring Kathleen McElroy, a Texas A&M graduate, class of 1981, to revive its journalism program, which was discontinued as a major in 2004.

Ms. McElroy, who is black, most recently worked as a professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Journalism and Media, where she also served as director for four years.

The university initially offered Ms. McElroy a tenure-eligible position, but after she accepted the offer, it changed to a “one-year professor of practice appointment, with the option to renew,” the university said in a news release.

Some officials within the Texas A&M system are accused of expressing concerns about her employment at The Times and her support for diversity in newsrooms, The Texas Tribune reported.

“At the Faculty Senate meeting on Wednesday, President Banks denied knowing about the changes in the job offer but took responsibility for a flawed hiring process after a wave of national publicity suggesting McElroy, who has done research on diversity and inclusion, was a victim of ‘anti-woke’ hysteria and outside interference in the faculty hiring process,” Texas A&M said in a news release announcing the appointment of Mark A. Welsh III as acting president of the university.

What Happened?

The longtime journalist with decades of experience had accepted an offer to re-establish and run the school’s new journalism program and teach as a tenured professor, pending the Texas A& M University System Board of Regents’ approval.

However, the hiring deal began falling apart after the university’s announcement and public signing ceremony for Dr. McElroy on June 13.

“Texas A&M has selected Kathleen McElroy ‘81 to lead the university’s new journalism program. McElroy, who brings more than 40 years of professional experience, will lead a new effort to prepare the next generation of Aggie journalists,”  the university wrote on Twitter.

The post was accompanied by a photo of Ms. McElroy alongside the Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, José Luis Bermúdez. The interim dean described Ms. McElroy as the “perfect fit” for the school.

“There is so much trust in A&M and the Aggie core values, and we want to position the planned new journalism degrees and program as an integral part of the Aggeo brand,” Ms. McElroy said. “I couldn’t pass up this opportunity be a part of something transformational for Texas A&M, for the state of Texas and for journalism.”

In the days after Ms. McElroy signed the deal, the university began changing the terms of the position, The Battalion, A&M’s newspaper, reported.

The university garnered unwanted national attention last week when Dr. McElroy announced that she had rejected the offer to return to her alma mater.

“They made it so that I can’t be at A&M,” Ms. McElroy told KBTX-TV on July 11. “From what I understand, my main problem is being a black woman who had been at the New York Times.”

Ms. McElroy told The Texas Tribune that she would not leave her “tenured position at UT for a one-year contract that emphasizes you can be let go at any point.”

She went on to tell the news outlet that Mr. Bermúdez told her that there was “noise in the [university] system,” about her, without providing details. When Ms. McElroy inquired further, she said he told her, “You’re a black woman who worked at the New York Times.” He allegedly told her that The Times is akin to Pravda in some conservative circles. Pravda is the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

Mr. Bermúdez has since stepped down from his role and returned to a faculty position amid the “controversy.”

“I feel, in the light of the controversy surrounding recent communications with Dr. Kathleen McElroy that this is the best thing I can do to preserve the great things that we have achieved over the last year in creating the College of Arts and Sciences at Texas A&M,” Bermúdez said in a statement on Monday, July 17, KBTX-TV reported. “My continuation in this role would be a needless distraction as you all continue the work that we have begun.”

Texas A&M DEI Policy

Earlier this year, Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp announced it had joined a growing list of public university systems across the country to end the use of “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI) policies in its hiring and admissions process.

“No university or agency in the A&M System will admit any student, not hire any employee based on anything other than merit,” Mr. Sharp said in a statement on March 2.

The announcement came after Gov. Greg Abbott’s (R) office warned state agencies and public universities that hiring practices based on any reason other than merit is a violation of the law.

“Illegally adding DEI as a condition of employment leads to the exclusion and alienation of individuals from the workplace,” wrote the governor’s Chief of Staff Gardner Pate in a letter dated Feb. 4.

In late May, the state legislature passed Senate Bill 17, a measure banning DEI initiatives at publicly funded universities in Texas, which was signed by Gov. Abbott on June 17. (pdf)

The law will take effect Jan. 24, 2024.