Texas A&M president resigning following backlash over video of gender identity discussion in classroom

Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh, the president of Texas A&M University, will resign Friday in the wake of criticism over the fallout from the release earlier this month of a video that showed a student confronting a professor over class curriculum surrounding gender identity.  

“President Welsh is a man of honor who has led Texas A&M with selfless dedication,” Chancellor Glenn Hegar said in a statement announcing the resignation. “We are grateful for his service and contributions. At the same time, we agree that now is the right moment to make a change and to position Texas A&M for continued excellence in the years ahead.”

Welsh last week fired the professor, later identified to CBS News Texas as Melissa McCoul, amid political backlash from Texas lawmakers over the video, and also demoted two high-ranking officials at Texas A&M University — the College of Arts and Sciences dean and the head of the English Department.  

In the video that captures the encounter — which has been circulating on the internet — the student cites executive orders signed by President Trump and questions the legality of the teachings in the children’s literature class. 

“I’m not entirely sure this is legal to be teaching because according to our president, there’s only two genders and he said he would be freezing agencies’ funding programs that promote gender ideology. And this also very much goes against, not only myself but a lot of people’s religious beliefs,” a student’s voice is heard saying in the video.

“If you are uncomfortable in this class you do have the right to leave,” another voice, believed to be the professor, responds after a brief back-and-forth.

Texas state Rep. Brian Harrison posted the video on X on Sept. 8 and called for the Trump administration to investigate the school and fire the officials involved. 

Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott advocated for the professor’s firing in a social media post, writing that she acted “contrary to Texas law.”

Harmeet Dhillon, who serves as the assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Justice Department, called the video “deeply concerning” and said her division will “look into” the matter. 

Neither the student nor the professor are visible in the video, which Harrison said his office received from a whistleblower. It is not clear when it was recorded. 

An attorney for McCoul told CBS News Texas she has appealed her termination. The attorney also said that his client taught the course for years and was never told to change it. 

When reached by CBS News, Texas A&M said the involved student chose not to be publicly identified. 

Mr. Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office proclaiming that, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female. These sexes are not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality.” The executive order also prohibits federal grants from being used to promote gender ideology.

In a letter written to Abbott, Harrison alleged that the professor taught that “childhood is the time for figuring out how to be a boy, girl, man, woman, or another gender,” and that “children and adolescents are expected to be sexless, even as our culture valorizes, idealizes, and even eroticizes youth.”

Amid mounting political pressure, Welsh announced on Sept. 9 his decision to fire the professor and demote the school officials involved, following a “full consideration of the facts,” he said in a statement.

Welsh said in that statement he learned about the content of the course over the summer, but changes that were discussed with the professor were not addressed, and “the college continued to teach content that was inconsistent with the published course description for another course this fall.”

Moving forward, Welsh said, departments across the university will undergo an audit process to ensure course offerings and descriptions match. 

“This isn’t about academic freedom; it’s about academic responsibility,” Welsh said in his statement last week. “Our degree programs and courses go through extensive approval processes, and we must ensure that what we ultimately deliver to students is consistent with what was approved.”

The professor’s firing prompted criticism from some education advocates. 

“We’re witnessing the death of academic freedom in Texas,” Jonathan Friedman of PEN America, a literacy advocacy group, said in a statement last week. “Firing academic leaders to appease politicians is excessive and suffocates free speech and open inquiry on campus.”

Welsh has served as school president since 2023 following the resignation of M. Katherine Banks.