Within recent months, Texas A&M University has found itself within the epicenter of perpetually escalating controversy, protest, and political backlash regarding the ethicality and validity of classroom discussions, faculty governance and interests, and faculty trust, all of which have converged, garnering national attention.
What began as a filmed discussion over politically-affiliated teaching material in July of 2025 has quickly evolved into a theater of political debate, restructuring, and September 2025 terminations- including that of former Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III, which has garnered some student protest and support across the College Station and Galveston campuses.
Concurrently, broadly encompassing changes in the Texas State legislature dictated the dissolution of university Faculty Senates, such as what could be previously found at Texas A&M University, replacing the previous institution with a new representative governance in the Faculty Advisory Board, further developing concerns of academic freedom and institutional validity.
Together, these circumstances, now colloquially referred to as the “A&M Controversy,” have largely left students, faculty, and alumni to grapple with the many uncertainties of the university’s future.
A timeline of events
On July 29, a video was taken by an anonymous student during Dr. Melissa McCoul’s ENGL 360: Literature for Children course, while discussing the novel “Jude Saves the World” by Ronnie Riley (a novel about a 12-year-old coming out as nonbinary), of the professor displaying a graphic of a purple “gender unicorn” which is used to teach about gender and sexuality.
This anonymous student secretly recorded the professor, questioning the legality of the discussion regarding President Trump’s 2025 “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” executive order.
Due to prior concern, this student had already been in correspondence with university officials, including then-President Mark A. Welsh III, in efforts to investigate the legality of this issue. The professor then claimed to disagree with the student’s assessment, leading to a back-and-forth which resulted in the student’s ejection from the classroom, after which the student was asked to no longer attend further class sessions.
In response shortly after this initial incident, the class was cancelled. However, McCoul was never officially reprimanded and returned to teach in the following Fall 2025 semester.
On September 8th, 2025, the video was resurfaced on the social media platform X by Republican State Representative Brian Harrison of Texas along with an additional video taken some time prior to September 8, of the same student with Welsh defending McCoul’s in-course curriculum.
This reposting of video clips of the incident caused blowback from Republican politicians- particularly Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. The Republican lawmakers called for the resignation of both Professor McCoul and President Welsh citing the lapse in curriculum transparency, discrimination against the student, and the failure to punish faculty rather than the student.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vvtQbJptnG8
In response to these demands, President Welsh enacted the removal of the College of Arts and Sciences’ Dean Mark Zoran and English Department’s head Emily Johansen. However, Republican lawmakers quickly noticed the lack of action regarding the viral video’s Professor McCoul, leading to the prompt termination of the professor by former President Welsh III.
https://www.texastribune.org/2025/09/19/texas-a-m-welsh-firing-professor-gender-mccoul/
Furthermore, the former president claimed that the terminations were over concerns of academic responsibility rather than academic freedoms, citing the consistent and continual teaching of material separate from the expectations of the official course description- specifically, the teaching of LGBTQ+ viewpoints and themes.
On Friday September 19th, President Mark Welsh III officially resigned from his position as president of Texas A&M University following mounting political pressure and controversy regarding his handling of the related terminations and their origins.
On Friday October 3rd, Texas A&M appointed Interim President Tommy Williams, who has served in the position previously, while the university conducts a search for Welsh’s replacement. As of Wednesday October 8th, the university has not yet announced who will fill the position.
Faculty Senate to become Faculty Advisory Council
Furthermore, in a similar vein, the Texas A&M Faculty Senate- a representative voice of the general university faculty members in pursuit of the facilitation of academic governance and interests- announced their dissolution on September 1st of 2025, after 40 years of function.
This announcement- separate in relation from the controversial videos, resignations, and demotions revolving around Professor McCoul and former President Welsh III- came in response to Senate Bill 37, requiring the elimination of all faculty senate organizations within public universities unless authorized by the university’s Board of Regents.
In place of the former senate, a new organizational structure known as the Faculty Advisory Council- a new, smaller organization for faculty representation- was announced to begin its function on the 1st of November 2025.
https://thebatt.com/news/am-faculty-senate-to-dissolve-replaced-by-advisory-council/
This restructuring, which is still under deliberation, replaced the previous assembly of 122 faculty members across 10 Texas A&M University system campuses with a new hierarchy of up to 60 faculty members, with a minimum of 2 president-appointed representatives from each school in which larger colleges hold larger representation.
https://facultysenate.tamu.edu/about
The new function of the Faculty Advisory Council is to provide recommendations and advice on behalf of the faculty’s interests regarding their personal campus, and larger institution. These recommendations, however, will be presented to a university-president appointed presiding officer, associate presiding officer, and secretary, facilitating the council’s overall role and input.
Future implications
Although these events occurred independently, their relationally similar content has led to a conjoined generalization of ‘A&M controversy.’ Due to the sequentiality of the events in which they occurred, students and staff alike have been left in confusion of not only facts and motives, but the implications of each set of events as well.
When considered together, as they have been largely presented to the public, the various dismissals of humanities faculty, the resignation of former President Welsh III, and the dissolution of the long-standing university Faculty Senate present a significant institutional restructuring of not only the function, but the reputation of the university.
“Right now, no one knows what President Welsh’s resignation means for Galveston or even College Station,” an anonymous former Faculty Senate member explained. “Academic freedom is under attack nationally so there is a chilling effect on what is taught in the classroom.”
While university leadership and state lawmakers have framed these developments as matters of accountability, transparency, and legislative compliance, critics point to the broader implications of academic freedom and institutional independence.
These questions regarding the safety of academics and ethicality of core course content have already begun to influence the very foundations of the university, sowing confusion and distrust amongst students and faculty alike. Despite these concerns, some student leaders remain confident in the institution’s ability to address the challenges.
“I have full trust in the leadership within the College of Marine Sciences and Maritime Studies, both on the executive and student level, to maintain a positive environment for all on our campus,” said Lily Chabot, President of the Galveston Student Government Association.
As the Texas A&M University system navigates this transitionary period, the university community awaits clarity over leadership appointment, governance, and academic policy. Moreover, the ongoing search for a permanent president and the transition to the new Faculty Advisory Council will likely present the foundation for the future of the institution. For now, students and faculty alike continue to monitor developments of this issue, seeking to understand the changes and impacts of the university’s academic mission and culture moving forward.
