Governor Greg Abbott was ready to fire Texas A&M president Mark Welsh.
That’s according to a post on the governor’s personal X/Twitter page.
Abbott was responding to other social media that revealed permission had been given for A&M employees to participate in a conference that violated the state’s anti-DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) law, also known as SB-17, that was enacted two years ago.
Abbott posted “It’s against Texas law and violates the US Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone.”
A university spokeswoman told WTAW News “The president does not approve what conferences employees across campus go to.”
Welsh sent an e-mail to employees at A&M’s Mays business school after learning of the governor’s social media post. Welsh wrote that the university “will not be sending anyone to participate in this conference”.
Welsh said “This particular conference’s limitations on the acceptable race of attendees is not in line with the intent of SB-17”.
The e-mail, sent to WTAW News by the university, said:
“Earlier this evening I released the following statement on social media in response to criticism we received for approving folks to attend and present at a doctoral recruiting conference that limited attendees (potential doctoral students) by race and other factors:”
“Texas A&M does not support any organization, conference, process or activity that excludes people based on race, creed, gender, age or any other discriminating factor. The intent of SB-17 is very clear in that regard. We will continue to honor both the letter and the intent of the law.”
“While the proper process for reviewing and approving attendance at such events was followed, I don’t believe we fully considered the spirit of our state law in making the initial decision to participate. This particular conference’s limitations on the acceptable race of attendees is not in line with the intent of SB-17, and, as a result, we will not be sending anyone to participate in this conference. Texas A&M faculty and staff attend hundreds, if not thousands, of conferences and other events during the course of each academic year. We need to be sure that attendance at those events is aligned with the very clear guidance we’ve been given by our governing bodies.”
