Journalism professor Kathleen McElroy rescinded her resignation at UT following the failure of her deal with Texas A&M University, and the future of A&M’s journalism program remains unknown.
The Texas Tribune announced McElroy’s decision to split with A&M in an article released on July 11. This came abruptly after the school held a public celebratory signing for the professor in June. The Tribune reported that in the days after the signing, other employees told McElroy that people within the system expressed concerns about her work at the New York Times and on race and diversity in newsrooms. A&M spent weeks altering her contract. Their final offer gave her the position for one year and emphasized that she could be terminated from her appointment at any time, according to the Tribune.
“I think the fact that we had a glimpse of hope into this wonderful person with so much experience, I mean, working for The New York Times, she’s literally an Aggie, she had all this amazing experience in the work that she’s done at UT,” said Anna Deardorff, Life and Arts Editor at The Battalion, A&M’s student newspaper. “To find out that fell through was just devastating.”
Journalism students and some staffers at The Battalion met with McElroy once it was announced that she accepted a position as director of the journalism school and after The Tribune broke the story that she turned down the latest offer.
“The early conversation was really just a lot of asking if she knew what was going on prior to the offer being changed, which she said that she didn’t have any inclinations prior to the phone call that triggered everything that they were considering changing their mind,” The Battalion staffer Zoe May said. “Essentially, she said other than the conversation about her potentially not getting tenure, and her agreeing to then do an offer without tenure, she was under the impression that everything was fine. Until she received that phone call that said that she could probably return to UT-Austin.”
Amid the hiring controversy, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board approved a new journalism major at Texas A&M on July 27.
A&M ended its journalism program in 2004 after offering it for 55 years. A&M did continue to offer journalism as a minor and later as a degree in university studies. A&M intended for McElroy to be the director of its restored journalism school.
“I think that A&M would benefit from creating a similar program that makes us a little bit more competitive to those incoming freshmen or seniors that are touring,” Deardorff said. “Now we’re not sure what that future looks like in the fall. But obviously, I was thrilled to hear that they did approve the major to return this fall, which is great.”
A&M president Katherine Banks stepped down after the response to McElroy leaving.
The Texas A&M University Systems Board of Regents approved Mark Welsh III as interim president and voted to pursue a potential settlement with McElroy.
“The culture at A&M is very controversial,” The Battalion staffer Kylie Stoner said. “It’s very tradition-based, obviously. And it’s very conservative-leaning. There are people there who don’t necessarily agree with each other, but they are there for the love of the traditions and for the love of the school. And I think that the administration doing what they’re doing is really harming that.”
