Texas A&M University’s director of student affairs worked extensively with a group that promotes DEI themes, using neutral sounding language, during 2025 and the first half of 2026.
Dr. Darby Roberts, Texas A&M’s director of student affairs, serves on the board of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA). This organization claims to be a trade association for student affairs administrators.
As reported in June, NASPA held a conference in Austin that heavily promoted DEI concepts. This included panel discussions that explicitly drew upon “equity” and “inclusiveness,” alongside similar, though less politically charged, terminology such as “belonging” and “culturally relevant.”
Following this conference, Texas Scorecard filed an open records request for Roberts’ calendar “from January 1, 2025, through the date the search is conducted.”
Texas A&M released this information, after a series of bureaucratic delays, on Tuesday.
Texas A&M is continuing to attempt to withhold other records related to Roberts’ communications.
According to Roberts’ calendar, she did NASPA-related work on more than a dozen occasions during the time in question. NASPA-related calendar entries include several multi-day blocks alongside shorter meetings.
Roberts attended two major annual conferences, New Orleans (March 2025) and Kansas City (March 2026), with travel days clearly marked before each event. At both conferences, the calendar lists specific session rooms and exhibit hall identifiers, indicating full participation in multi‑day programming.
Roberts’ calendar does not indicate that she attended the June 2026 conference in Austin.
Outside the conferences, Roberts attended NASPA policy meetings, Assessment, Evaluation & Research Division sessions, state‑level events in Texas, and several governance‑related meetings, including a travel day in November 2025.
The timeline reflects continuous engagement with NASPA committees, reporting requirements, and professional development activities throughout the two‑year span.
Records have shown Roberts’ continued involvement with the group.
Roberts reports to Vice President for Student Affairs Bill Kibler. Kibler reports to campus President Susan Ballabina.
Texas A&M University is a component of the Texas A&M University System. The Texas A&M System is overseen by a Board of Regents that is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. Robert Albritton of Fort Worth is the current board chair.
If you are a student, parent, faculty member, or concerned citizen who would like to partner with us to promote transparency in taxpayer-subsidized higher education, please email scorecardtips@protonmail.com.
