COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Nexstar) — Less than a day after Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III announced his intention to step down, hundreds of students gathered outside the administration building to see him off one last time.
“President Welsh is just such an incredible leader,” student Morgan Schorn said. “He was just so relational with the students and so [we] really wanted to show him the love when he left.”
Welsh a long lap from the front of the building to his car, as students thanked him for his leadership and sang for him.
“It’s humbling,” Welsh said during his walk.
Welsh refused to elaborate on his decision to resign, saying it was a “bad time.” In his resignation letter to Chancellor Glenn Hegar, Welsh expressed gratitude for the university he’s departing.
“It’s been a pleasure to work for you, Boss,” Welsh wrote. “Best of luck leading the best university system on Earth! They’re lucky to have you.”
‘Stop hiring liberals’
Welsh’s departure comes after a week and a half of criticism from some Republican state lawmakers about his handling of a secretly-recorded video showing a student arguing with a professor over the legality of teaching there are more than two genders. The class was designed to train teachers on how to teach children’s literature.
“He’s done a good job as a communicator to students, of that there’s no doubt,” State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Texas A&M alumnus, said. “But the governing body of the University is the Board of Regents and the [Texas] Legislature sets the laws. And when you look at the syllabus of this course that was being taught, there’s no way you would want 5-, 6-, 7-year-old kids getting that type of information about transgender stuff at that age. It’s nuts.”
One of the most vocal critics of Welsh is State Rep. Brian Harrison, who has called for Welsh’s firing for most of the year. Harrison used social media to constantly put pressure on Welsh and Texas A&M, repeatedly posting the incident on X.
“The only reason [Welsh stepped down] is because I went public. I went public in a a very unprecedented manner to the people of the State of Texas, because I’ve had no luck with just about anybody under the corrupt pink dome in Austin trying to end this transgender and DEI indoctrination in all of our public universities.”
Another high-profile political to call for greater accountability at Texas A&M was Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
“Lt. Gov. Patrick believes this was the right decision and is the best for everyone at this time. This path forward gives new chancellor Glenn Hegar a fresh start to build his team at Texas A&M,” Patrick’s Press Secretary Steven Aranyi said.
Harrison and Bettencourt are also looking to the future of their alma mater, who are looking for their third president in two years, and their fifth this decade.
“This all could’ve been avoided if the president had just said ‘this is a bad course, it’s a bad syllabus, we don’t want to be teaching this at A&M, I know this is not what the legislature intends, drop it and move on.’ That would’ve been the end of it,” Bettencourt said. “I hope we don’t go through this Groundhog Day a third time, because there’s no reason to. We’ve set the direction in the state [legislature], let’s get a leader that’s consistent and let’s make A&M the best it can be in this 50th anniversary year.”
When looking towards his preferred replacement for A&M’s president, Harrison has one prerequisite.
“Stop hiring liberals,” he said. “Aggies do not lie, cheat or steal or tolerate those who do. It’s past time we get a president of Texas A&M that can abide by that ethos.”
Welsh’s resignation became official at 5 p.m. on Friday. The Board of Regents will have to convene to name his interim replacement.
Credit: Source link
