Texas A&M professor fired after viral video disputes termination

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Melissa McCoul, the professor fired by Texas A&M University on Tuesday for allegedly not changing her course content to match its description, is disputing her cause for termination and exploring legal options, according to a statement her attorney sent to The Texas Tribune on Wednesday.

McCoul’s attorney Amanda Reichek said the listed reason for termination was that she failed to change her course content to align with the catalog and course descriptions despite numerous instructions to do so. However, Reichek countered that McCoul’s course content was consistent with the descriptions, and she wasn’t instructed to change her course content. She had also been teaching the course for multiple years at that point with no difficulty.

McCoul has appealed the firing and is exploring legal action, Reichek said.

Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III terminated McCoul after a video went viral that showed a confrontation between her and a student in one of her summer classes, an upper-level children’s literature course. The video, which does not show anyone’s face, captures audio of a student objecting to a professor teaching that there are more than two genders. The student said this conflicts with President Donald Trump’s executive order and her religious beliefs, and McCoul responded by saying she had a right to teach the lesson while the student had a right to leave.

Texas A&M and Welsh have come under increasing fire from Republican lawmakers over the video. As a result, Welsh fired McCoul, revoked administrative duties from the head of the department that oversaw the course and reportedly demoted Mark Zoran, the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Texas A&M’s second-largest college with more than 15,000 students.

The backlash from Republican lawmakers critical of the video has put Texas A&M on the defensive, a push fueled by Texas Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, publishing new, unreleased audio recordings of a meeting Welsh had with the student who confronted McCoul. In the audio, Welsh defended the professor and the topics taught in the class.

But, as the pressure to fire McCoul ramped up, Welsh switched gears. Late Monday, he removed both Zoran and the then-head of the English department, Emily Johansen, from their positions, saying they approved plans to teach material that was inconsistent with the published course description. The university has not confirmed whether they were fired or re-assigned. However, a university employee who works in upper administration told The Tribune that both Zoran and Johansen have been demoted.

It’s unclear who is leading the College of Arts and Sciences. On Wednesday, the English department announced that its associate department head would move up to acting head while they search for a replacement.

In a statement, the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents said they would audit every course to ensure compliance with the law. A separate statement from Chancellor Glenn Hegar praised Welsh for sacking McCoul. She was not tenured and had been an educator for more than 10 years.

Texas A&M has not identified any students involved in producing the video or audio.

Hours before Welsh announced McCoul’s firing, Gov. Greg Abbott called the dean and department head’s removal “good” in a post on X before also calling for the professor to be fired. Harrison, however, responded to Abbott’s post saying that the removals were not good enough and that Welsh “must also be fired.”

Several Republican lawmakers have since called for Welsh’s removal, and Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, wrote on X that the incident was “deeply concerning” and said the agency would “look into” it. The Justice Department declined to comment further. Texas A&M University did not respond to questions or provide additional information about the incident.

Harrison, a Texas A&M alum and former Trump administration official, has clashed with Welsh for months over diversity, equity and inclusion policies. In May, he accused Texas A&M of “egregious discrimination” by offering DEI-related courses and “targeted student recruitment.” Welsh has denied violating the law or discriminating.

It’s unclear how Harrison, the state representative, acquired the video and audio recordings. He also posted multiple screenshots of presentation and classroom material on X that is not available to people not enrolled in the course.

Welsh became Texas A&M’s president in 2023, the same year Texas lawmakers passed a ban on DEI offices and programs at public universities. He took over after the resignation of former President M. Katherine Banks, and since then, Republican leaders have moved aggressively to assert more control over higher education.

Disclosure: Texas A&M University has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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