Texas A&M University announced Friday, July 21, 2023, that its school president has resigned after a Black journalist’s celebrated hiring at one of the nation’s largest campuses unraveled over pushback of her diversity and inclusion work. Here, the Texas A&M logo on Kyle Field is seen before an NCAA college football game against Florida, in College Station, Texas, Sept. 8, 2012.
Dave Einsel/AP
Texas A&M University announced on Friday that its president, M. Katherine Banks, will “retire immediately” amid controversy about the mishandling of a Black journalist’s hire.
According to an official university statement Friday, Banks submitted her letter late Thursday announcing she would retire immediately, saying the “negative press has become a distraction.”
The university said that Mark A. Welsh III, the dean of the university’s government and public service school, would serve as interim president until a national search is conducted for a successor.
Banks’ announcement comes days after the school’s faculty senate passed a resolution to launch a fact-finding committee to investigate how the hiring of Kathleen McElroy, a University of Texas professor and former New York Times journalist, was mishandled.
“The recent challenges regarding Dr. McElroy have made it clear to me that I must retire immediately,” Banks said in her announcement.
The university announced last month it hired McElroy, a Texas A&M graduate, to lead its journalism program. However, the hire drew backlash from conservatives across Texas, who criticized previous statements McElroy made about diversity, equity and inclusion, according to The Texas Tribune, who first reported the story.
Once McElroy’s offer was extended, it quickly fell apart…
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