On September 18, 2025, Texas A&M University (TAMU) President Mark Welsh resigned under pressure from elected officials.
His resignation followed an earlier reported incident (see report) in which Welsh fired senior lecturer Melissa McCoul and others after public outcry, including from elected officials, over McCoul’s teaching on gender and sexuality.
The public pressure on Welsh did not abate following McCoul’s firing. Texas State Senator Brian Harrison continued to call for Welsh to be fired. For example, on September 18, Harrision posted on X “Are you fed up with @TAMU leadership forcing YOU to fund leftist DEI and TRANSGENDER indoctrination? I sure as hell am. That’s why I called for new leadership almost one year ago. Not stopping!…Fire Welsh. End leftist indoctrination. NOW!” Later that evening, TAMU Chancellor Glenn Hegar and the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents announced Welsh’s resignation.
TAMU’s statement about Welsh’s resignation did not explain the reason for his departure, nor did Welsh offer any specific explanation. The chair of TAMU’s board told the members of the media that political pressure and media attention had not played a role in the decision. However, the decision was contested within the TAMU academic community. While some members of the community were critical of Welsh’s decision to fire McCoul, TAMU’s Executive Committee of the University Distinguished Professors wrote to the board chair on September 17 to express their support for Welsh. The university’s student government sent a similar letter. Harrison publicly credited himself for Welsh’s resignation.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the resignation and constructive firing of a university president in apparent acquiescence to pressure from outside the university, specifically from elected officials. University leaders, including their boards, have a responsibility to protect academic freedom and institutional autonomy; to refrain from disciplinary actions that punish, restrict, or chill academic expression; and to resist outside interference into the content of teaching and research. When university leaders fail to meet these responsibilities, they not only harm the immediate victims. They damage their institutions, and undermine academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and democratic society generally.
Sources:
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/governance/executive-leadership/2025/09/19/whats-next-texas-am
https://apnews.com/article/texas-am-university-resignation-mark-welsh-dei-lgbtq-gender-identity-02a5baa0c355174824630ef9c7cfe083
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/09/18/texasam-president-resign-mark-welsh-gender/
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/19/texas-am-university-president-resigns
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/18/texas-am-university-president-mark-welsh-resigns/
https://x.com/brianeharrison/status/1968787751072923983