Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is calling for the resignation of Alamo Trust Inc. President and CEO Kate Rogers, citing “troubling” past writings he says are “incompatible with the telling of the history of the battle of the Alamo.”
The Alamo Trust has been under new scrutiny after a since-deleted social media post honoring “Indigenous Peoples and their communities” and “their history at the Alamo” went viral earlier this month.
On Thursday, Patrick pointed to writings from Rogers’ dissertation for her doctoral work, which she finished in 2023, but he said had only recently been “discovered.”
Rogers wrote at the time that she generally disagreed with the state’s efforts to control what’s taught in the classroom — efforts that have only ramped up since President Donald Trump returned to office at the beginning of this year.
She also noted the challenge of balancing her own personal political views those of the state’s conservative-dominated legislature, where Patrick has played a major role in steering state money toward the Alamo’s redevelopment.
“Personally, I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon of historical reconciliation, and place that brings people together instead of tearing them apart,” she wrote. But politically, “that may not be possible.”
Rogers said Thursday she had no comment to offer at this time.
Locally, she’s been lauded for her work balancing the desires of conservative state leaders holding the purse strings with those of a blue city that also feels much ownership over how the Alamo’s history is presented.
Just a year ago they were all together in San Antonio, celebrating the groundbreaking of the new Alamo Visitor Center and Museum.
“God brought together this puzzle of people from different walks of life, of different political parties, and we came together at the right time,” Patrick said at that event.
Commissioner Grant Moody (Pct. 3), County Judge Peter Sakai, Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are shown together at the groundbreaking of the Alamo Visitor Center & Museum on Oct. 1, 2024. Credit: Bria Woods / San Antonio Report
Though the Alamo Trust is technically overseen by its board of directors, Rogers noted in her dissertation that the Alamo is under control of the Texas General Land Office, which keeps them on a short leash.
“The staff there is heavily involved nearly every decision I make,” Rogers wrote. “Especially those that could have political implications for the [Land] Commissioner and his or her staff members, who are always on high alert.”
To her point, earlier this month the Trust’s Indigenous Peoples day post on X caught the attention of the conservative media outlet Texas Scorecard, which flagged it for Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.
Buckingham immediately responded that “woke has no place” at the Alamo, and that “we will be holding those responsible accountable.”
That was Oct. 14.
By Oct. 23, Patrick said in a letter to the Alamo Trust’s board of directors that he’d notified Rogers about his concerns.
“I suggested she offer her resignation before the board considers the matter,” he said.