Following the failed hiring of Kathleen McElroy—a DEI proponent and tenured professor at UT Austin—for the position of journalism director at Texas A&M, Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison of Midlothian is demanding answers for the university’s $1 million settlement with McElroy.
”Like hell my constituents should have to pay a DEI activist professor one million dollars for simply not leaving one government job for another government job,” said Harrison. “She’s still tenured at UT Austin and is getting a $1M bonus? I will demand answers from Texas A&M University, my alma mater.”
McElroy, whose background includes pushing for the removal of “illegitimate” perspectives in journalism and promoting DEI at UT Austin, rejected A&M’s final job offer for the position of journalism director after the university watered down her contract following public outcry.
Texas A&M changed McElroy’s proposed contract, ultimately settling on a one-year deal as a professor without tenure and a three-year appointment as the director of the journalism program, with an emphasis that she could be terminated at any time.
The TAMU Board of Regents authorized university officials to pursue a settlement with McElroy last weekend and directed the system’s general counsel to investigate what happened.
When the Office of the General Counsel released its report, it found that “significant mistakes” were made in the hiring process and announced that McElroy would receive a $1 million settlement for the botched process.
Texas A&M is overseen by a board of regents appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
