Overview

• President Mark A. Welsh III dismissed non-tenured professor Melissa McCoul, whose attorney says she is appealing and preparing potential legal action while disputing the stated reason for termination.
• Welsh removed Dean Mark Zoran and English Department head Emily Johansen from their administrative roles over course-content approvals that he said did not match catalog descriptions.
• The Texas A&M System Board of Regents directed audits of all courses for compliance, and Chancellor Glenn Hegar publicly backed the firing, with Welsh framing the issue as academic responsibility rather than academic freedom.
• Republican officials escalated pressure, with Gov. Greg Abbott calling for the professor’s removal, Rep. Brian Harrison releasing additional audio in which Welsh initially defended the professor, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick urging a change if Welsh cannot reflect the values he expects.
• Civil-rights and academic-freedom advocates questioned the rationale for discipline, noting the posted description for English 360 appears compatible with discussing gender identity, while the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said it would review the incident and the source of the recordings remains unclear.