Last month, former Texas A&M interim dean José Luis Bermúdez celebrated the hiring of an esteemed journalist and experienced academic leader with balloons and a press package. That leader, Kathleen McElroy, would not only have the chance to revamp the university’s journalism program, but she would be doing so at her alma mater.
As of Monday, however, Bermúdez has resigned as dean of the school’s College of Arts and Sciences, finding his continuation in the role “a needless distraction” amid conservative backlash at the university and state level over McElroy’s hiring. Similarly, McElroy returns to UT-Austin feeling “damaged” by this process after the university tossed her original and subsequent employment contracts.
Texas A&M finds itself out of a dean, a director and a journalism program following McElroy’s opponents alleging “DEI hysteria” over her previous advocation for equity-based hiring practices, such as improving diversity and inclusion within the newsroom.
“I’m being judged by race, maybe gender. And I don’t think other folks would face the same bars or challenges. And it seems that my being an Aggie, wanting to lead an Aggie program to what I thought would be prosperity, wasn’t enough,” said McElroy, according to The Texas Tribune.
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McElroy had initially accepted a tenured professor position at Texas A&M with the chance to install a degree-granting journalism program, pending approval from the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents. However, she just so happened to accept the offer when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott banned DEI across its public higher education system. As McElroy began to hear whispers of constituent pushback against her hire, a conversation with Bermúdez proved an omen for what was later to come.
“I said, ‘What’s wrong?’” Dr. McElroy recalled in an interview with The New York Times. “He said, ‘You’re a Black woman who was at The New York Times and, to these folks, that’s like working for Pravda.’”
One prominent newspaper with financial ties to Empower Texans, a conservative advocacy group, illuminated McElroy’s commitment to DEI efforts. Texas A&M defended McElroy to Texas Scorecard, calling her a “superb professor, veteran journalist and proven leader,” according to The Texas Tribune.
However, with Board members being elected by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate, forces above Bermúdez and even Texas A&M’s chancellor could dictate McElroy’s fate at the university. Understanding this, McElroy accepted the terms of a five-year, non-tenured contract—but the final offer offered by the Board was a “gut-wrenching” one-year contract that could be terminated at will.
“This offer letter on Sunday really makes it clear that they don’t want me there,” she said. “But in no shape, form or fashion would I give up a tenured position at UT for a one-year contract that emphasizes that you can be let go at any point.”
University faculty have condemned the contract negotiation breakdown, citing outside influence as detrimental to the institution’s goals. Additionally, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression believes the university might have engaged in viewpoint discrimination and is seeking clarity on the decision-making process.
