Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III this week announced that that senior lecturer Melissa McCoul had been fired after a video of a confrontation between McCoul and a student in her children’s literature course went viral, according to reports by The Texas Tribune.
Although the video does not show anyone’s face it includes audio of a student objecting to McCoul teaching that there are more than two genders. The student complains that McCoul’s statement contradicts Trump’s executive order attempting to erase transgender people and that it also contradicts her personal religious beliefs. McCoul responds that she had the right to teach the lesson and the student had the right to leave the class.
Welsh also announced this week that Mark Zoran, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at A&M, and department head Emily Johansen were also being “removed” because they approved McCoul’s plans to teach material that was inconsistent with the published course description.
Another video clip that circulated early in the week appeared to show Welsh telling a student that the professor would not be fired. He changed course, though, following political pressure from right-wing Republican lawmakers.
Welsh has said the university will conduct a full audit of its courses, and Texas A&M System Chancellor Glenn Hegar said he and the school’s Board of Regents would extend the course audit to all schools in the A&M System. The Board of Regents issued a statement declaring it would “not tolerate actions that damage the reputation” of the schools in the A&M System, apparently oblivious to the fact that such censorship undeniably damages the schools’ reputation.
— Tammye Nash