The head of the Alamo Trust, which oversees the famous Texas battle site, is out following a clash with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and accusations of “wokeness.”
President and CEO Kate Rogers resigned Friday under pressure from Patrick, who called her previous writings “troubling” and “incompatible with the telling of the history of the battle of the Alamo.”
An email sent to Rogers on Friday morning returned an automatic reply: “Kate Rogers is no longer at Alamo Trust, Inc.” Alamo Trust officials did not respond to an email or phone call Friday from The Dallas Morning News.
In an excerpt of her dissertation Patrick posted Thursday to social media, Rogers described navigating Texas politics as a researcher and said she believed politicians should not dictate what educators teach in the classroom.
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“I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon for historical reconciliation and a place that brings people together versus tearing them apart, but politically that may not be possible at this time,” Rogers wrote.
On Friday, Rogers told San Antonio news outlets in a statement that it “became evident through recent events that it was time for me to move on.” Reached for comment, Patrick’s office referred The News to his previous social media post but did not elaborate on Rogers’ departure.
The abrupt departure of the Alamo’s leader comes more than a week after the historic site commemorated Indigenous Peoples Day on social media, drawing a sharp rebuke from some conservatives.
“Today, we honor Indigenous Peoples and their communities, recognizing their history at the Alamo,” the since-deleted post read. It also shared details on the Alamo’s plans to open a Native American gallery celebrating tribes that shaped the region. In a separate post, the Alamo also commemorated Columbus Day.
On Oct. 14, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, who oversees the San Antonio landmark, criticized the Alamo’s celebration of Indigenous Peoples Day, calling it “frankly unacceptable.”
“Woke has no place at the Alamo,” Buckingham wrote on X. She went on to say her office was investigating how the Alamo Trust reviews and approves content for social media posts. “We will be holding those responsible accountable and will be implementing a new process to ensure my office has oversight.”
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I did NOT authorize this post. This is frankly unacceptable and it has been deleted. Woke has no place at the Alamo.
The @TXGLO is investigating how the Alamo Trust reviews and approves content for social media posts to Official… https://t.co/5WgHWy695F
— Dawn Buckingham (@DrBuckinghamTX) October 14, 2025
Until Friday, Rogers was at the helm of a $550 million transformation that includes a redesign of the plaza’s landscape, construction of new buildings for collections and education and the conversion of a row of historic structures into a visitors center and museum. The project is scheduled for completion in 2027.
The story of the Alamo has long been a part of Texas and American lore. In 1836, nearly 200 Texan rebels died at the Alamo defending the state during Texas’ war for independence from Mexico. Historians, however, have argued Texas soldiers were also fighting to uphold slavery, a critical piece of the state’s thriving cotton industry. Mexico opposed slavery.
Earlier this year, The News’ architecture Mark Lamster said the redevelopment project would elevate the Alamo’s storytelling “to a broader and more inclusive history reflecting native, Black, Spanish, Tejano and Mexican perspectives.”
In San Antonio, some leaders condemned Patrick’s call for Rogers to resign. Rogers, a native Texan, was named executive director of the trust in 2021 and promoted to president and CEO this year.
FILE – A ranger patrols the ground of the Alamo in San Antonio, Thursday, March 26, 2020. (AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)
Eric Gay / AP
Former Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who served from 2017 to earlier this year, called his demand “really dumb.”
“Kate Rogers was the right leader at the right time to bring stable, fact-focused leadership to the difficult and important work of the Alamo redevelopment project,” Nirenberg said. “Don’t let any extremist Republican lecture you about ‘cancel culture’ ever again.”
In a statement to the San Antonio Express-News, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, who is Japanese American, called Patrick’s demands for the resignation “gross political interference.”
“The next thing you know, they will be denying Japanese internment,” Sakai said, referring to U.S. confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II. “We need to get politics out of our teaching of history. Period.”
In a letter Thursday to the Alamo Trust, Patrick told board members he wants to tell the full history of the Alamo, but the main focus must be on the battle.
“The Alamo is a Texas treasure,” he said. “Of course, the entire story of the Alamo will be told, but the overriding emphasis must be on the ‘13 days of glory’ as nearly 200 men gave their lives to defend liberty and freedom for Texas.”