{"id":61560,"date":"2025-11-23T09:44:47","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:44:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61560\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T09:44:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T09:44:47","slug":"texas-am-committee-finds-professors-firing-over-transgender-related-lesson-unjustified","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/61560\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas A&#038;M committee finds professor\u2019s firing over transgender-related lesson unjustified"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A Texas A&amp;M committee ruled that the university\u2019s decision to fire a professor after a student was removed from class for objecting to a children\u2019s literature lesson on gender identity was unjustified.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A video recorded earlier this year by a female student showed her asking Melissa McCoul, a senior lecturer in the English department, if teaching gender ideology is legal, pointing to President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/donald-trump\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Donald Trump\u2019s;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Donald Trump\u2019s<\/a> executive orders aimed at removing the subject from higher education.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The internal committee ruled that the university failed to follow proper procedures and did not prove there was good cause to terminate McCoul. The committee unanimously voted this week that &#8220;the summary dismissal of Dr. McCoul was not justified.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The university said in a statement that interim President Tommy Williams has received the committee&#8217;s nonbinding recommendation and will make a decision after reviewing it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/media\/texas-lawmaker-slams-texas-am-after-student-allegedly-removed-from-class-challenging-transgender-lesson\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:TEXAS LAWMAKER SLAMS TEXAS A&amp;M AFTER STUDENT ALLEGEDLY REMOVED FROM CLASS FOR CHALLENGING TRANSGENDER LESSON;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">TEXAS LAWMAKER SLAMS TEXAS A&amp;M AFTER STUDENT ALLEGEDLY REMOVED FROM CLASS FOR CHALLENGING TRANSGENDER LESSON<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Texas A&amp;M campus\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/b50ef60d35d3e93a8d0c6d6f02fd0508.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>The internal committee ruled that the university failed to follow proper procedures and did not prove there was good cause to terminate the professor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">McCoul&#8217;s lawyer, Amanda Reichek, said the dispute is likely to end up in court because the university appears to want to continue fighting, and the interim president is facing similar political pressure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS\/mvaj7wvj\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Read On The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Read On The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Dr. McCoul asserts that the flimsy reasons proffered by A&amp;M for her termination are a pretext for the University\u2019s true motivation: capitulation to Governor Abbott\u2019s demands,&#8221; Reichek said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Gov. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/person\/greg-abbott\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Greg Abbott;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Greg Abbott<\/a> and other Republicans had called for her firing after watching the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Fire the professor who acted contrary to Texas law,&#8221; the governor wrote on X in September.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The video led to public criticism of university president Mark Welsh, who later resigned, although he did not offer a reason and never mentioned the video in his resignation announcement.<\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Intersex and trans pride flags\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/3abc5689539f288cec160cd7d6dbe101.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Gov. Greg Abbott and other Republicans had called for the professor&#8217;s firing after watching the video.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">State Rep. Brian Harrison said in a statement to Fox News Digital at the time that the &#8220;liberal president of Texas A&amp;M must be fired and all DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination defunded.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The opening of the video posted by Harrison on social media showed a slide titled &#8220;Gender Unicorn&#8221; that noted different gender identities and expressions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Students in the class told The Texas Tribune that they were discussing a book called &#8220;Jude Saves the World,&#8221; which is about a middle school student who comes out as nonbinary. Several other books <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/education\/curriculum\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:included in the course;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">included in the course<\/a> also touched on LGBTQ+ issues.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After a back-and-forth dispute about the legality of teaching the lessons on gender identity, McCoul asked the student to leave the class. Harrison also posted other recordings of the student&#8217;s meeting with Welsh that showed the then-university president defending McCoul&#8217;s instruction.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/texas-am-regents-demand-audit-all-courses-after-transgender-lesson-controversy\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:TEXAS A&amp;M REGENTS DEMAND AUDIT OF ALL COURSES AFTER TRANSGENDER LESSON CONTROVERSY;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">TEXAS A&amp;M REGENTS DEMAND AUDIT OF ALL COURSES AFTER TRANSGENDER LESSON CONTROVERSY<\/a><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"President Trump pointing\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"540\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/INo3BNOAsWh3cRhSnX1e_g--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU0MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/fox_news_text_979\/5587293ec639eb1002bc4ddd9346115a\"\/><\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump signed executive orders seeking to root out instruction on gender identity in higher education.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Welsh said when McCoul was fired that he learned she had continued teaching content in a children\u2019s literature course &#8220;that did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course.&#8221; He also said the course content did not match its catalog descriptions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;If we allow different course content to be taught from what is advertised, we let our students down. When it comes to our academic offerings, we must keep our word to our students and to the state of Texas,&#8221; he said in September, noting that leaders in the College of Arts and Sciences were found to have approved plans to continue teaching course content that was not consistent with the course\u2019s published description.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/foxnews.onelink.me\/xLDS?pid=AppArticleLink&amp;af_dp=foxnewsaf%3A%2F%2F&amp;af_web_dp=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.foxnews.com%2Fapps-products\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Click Here To Download The Fox News App;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Click Here To Download The Fox News App<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Earlier this month, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/us\/us-regions\/southwest\/texas\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Texas A&amp;M Regents;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Texas A&amp;M Regents<\/a> issued a new policy stating that no academic course &#8220;will advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity&#8221; unless approved in advance by a campus president.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fox News Digital reached out to Texas A&amp;M for comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Associated Press contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Original article source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/texas-am-committee-finds-professors-firing-over-transgender-related-lesson-unjustified\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Texas A&amp;M committee finds professor\u2019s firing over transgender-related lesson unjustified;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Texas A&amp;M committee finds professor\u2019s firing over transgender-related lesson unjustified<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Texas A&amp;M committee ruled that the university\u2019s decision to fire a professor after a student was removed&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[32609,3099,32611,145,1187,14648,4195,6333,32608,27,3042,29,28],"class_list":["post-61560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-amanda-reichek","tag-brian-harrison","tag-childrens-literature","tag-donald-trump","tag-gender-identity","tag-gender-ideology","tag-governor-abbott","tag-mark-welsh","tag-melissa-mccoul","tag-texas","tag-texas-am","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}