Facing growing political pressure, Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III announced Monday evening that the dean and department head overseeing a children’s literature course at the center of a viral recording were going to be removed, saying they approved plans to teach material inconsistent with the published course description.
The announcement came after a video circulated online Monday showing a student confronting a professor over LGBTQ-related content in the class, sparking backlash from Republican lawmakers and calls for investigations, a response from the U.S. Department of Justice, and a statement from the Texas A&M System chancellor pledging to discipline the professor.
“Our students use the published information in the course catalog to make important decisions about the courses they take in pursuit of their degrees,” Welsh said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, late Monday. “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."
It was not immediately clear Monday whether the College of Arts and Sciences dean or department head will remain employed at the university in other roles.