Texas A&M president steps down amid pressure over handling of LGBTQ content
Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh has stepped down a week after firing a university lecturer and removing two university leaders from their administrative posts following a dispute over teaching LGBTQ+ content in a course.
On Sept. 8, Welsh announced that Mark Zoran, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Emily Johansen, the head of the English Department, had been relieved of their leadership duties. A day later, Melissa McCoul, a lecturer in childhood literature, was fired.
The upheaval stemmed from a student’s complaints about a lesson McCoul taught that touched on gender identity.
When the announcements were made, Welsh accused Zoran and Johansen of approving “course content that was not consistent with the course’s published description.”
Texas Rep. Brian Harrison, a Republican from Waxahachie, called for Welsh’s firing in the wake of the Zoran and Johansen announcement. Harrison said Welsh had long known McCoul was teaching about gender identity.
“The president of Texas A&M fully supports LGBTQ coursework,” Harrison told the Star-Telegram in an interview.
Harrison went on to say the state’s conservative leaders failed by allowing Welsh to be in his position in the first place. He added that he’d voiced concerns multiple times about the teaching of LGBTQ+ content at his alma mater.
“I have spoken with the most senior leadership of Texas A&M for a period of time that goes back well over one or two years. … The leadership fully supports transgender indoctrination and DEI,” said Harrison.
Harrison shared a recording on social media made by the student who took issue with McCoul’s lesson. In that recording, the student is heard telling McCoul she is “not entirely sure this is legal to be teaching because, according to our president, there’s only two genders.” The student goes on to say she doesn’t want to promote ideas that violate “our president’s laws.”
Harrison said he wanted Texas Governor Greg Abbott to step in and fire Welsh. In a social media post on Aug. 9, Abbott himself called for McCoul’s firing, accusing her of violating Texas law.
Welsh served in the U.S. Air Force for 40 years, where he rose to the rank of general and was Air Force chief of staff. He was named the 27th president of Texas A&M in 2023.
In another recording Harrison shared on social media, the same student who confronted McCoul is heard talking with Welsh. She asks Welsh if he’s okay with LGBTQ+ content being taught at Texas A&M, and Welsh answers that it had been “for a long time.” He then explains the courses are typically for students entering fields like psychiatry, counseling, education and nonprofit work.”
“Those people don’t get to pick who their clients are, what citizens they serve, and they want to understand the issues affecting the people they’re going to treat,” Welsh tells the student. “So there is a professional reason to teach some of these courses.”