This article has been updated since publication.
After first defending the course, Texas A&M President Mark Welsh has announced the termination of a professor who included instruction on introducing LGBT topics to minors in a children’s literature class. The professor had ignited statewide controversy after a viral video and recorded audio displayed university leaders defending the class content even as lawmakers and the governor demanded accountability and firings.
Late Tuesday, in addition to terminating the professor, Welsh announced that “deans and department heads will conduct an audit of course offerings to ensure they align with the course descriptions.”
Texas A&M System Chancellor Glenn Hegar quickly “commended” Welsh’s actions and said the board of regents would extend the audit to all A&M campuses.
In a statement, the regents explained that they “will not tolerate actions that damage the reputation of our institutions.” They also confirmed the audit of every course.
Earlier on Tuesday, State Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian) had released more audio of Welsh defending the course.
“There are LGBTQ courses here and have been for a long time,” Welsh is heard telling the student who objected to the course.
“There’s not a problem with teaching [the class],” he said. “[Let’s] make it a professional track for people who want to study LGBTQ literature or something, which is what I recommended to them.”
Harrison shared the video that shows a discussion about transgender topics in a children’s literature class on Monday. The instructor in the video is heard telling the student to leave the classroom after she objected to the topic because of her religious beliefs and an executive order from President Donald Trump.
That same day, Harrison shared a recording of Welsh defending the class.
While Welsh has a history of promoting DEI, his statements conflict with recent actions. On November 7, 2024, the Texas A&M Board of Regents ended the university’s LGBTQ minor. In April 2025, Welsh vetoed the TAMU faculty senate’s request to add an LGBT class to the core curriculum.
Harrison has also shared emails between the department head, Dr. Emily Johansen, and the student. Johansen’s email signature includes the pronouns “she/her.”
“In this email, you can see Department Head, Dr. Emily Johansen ‘(she/her)’ pressured the student into accepting a deal to NEVER RETURN TO THE CLASS in exchange for maintaining her current grade,” Harrison wrote. “She then cites a ‘student rule’ in a clear attempt to suppress undercover videos that A&M leadership knew about.”
One of the emails also revealed the course number for the class in question: Literature for Children, an English course taught in Summer 2025. The syllabus listed Dr. Melissa McCoul as the instructor, but Texas A&M’s syllabi database listed Dr. Johansen as an instructor too.
For Children?
McCoul’s official curriculum vitae states that she teaches this class “with special focus on diversity in gender, sexuality and race.” She has taught it twelve times since Fall 2018.
According to the syllabus, one of the course’s objectives is to “define both childhood and children’s literature—and the problems with those definitions.”
Required readings include titles such as “My Gay Agenda: Embodying Intersectionality in Children’s Literature Scholarship,” “Why We Shouldn’t Shield Children From Darkness,” and “‘But she’s not retarded’: Contemporary Adolescent Literature Humanizes Disability but Marginalizes Intellectual Disability.”
For the week in which the video was recorded, the required reading included “Transgender Books in Transgender Packages: The Peritextual Materials of Young Adult Fiction,” an article in the International Journal of Young Adult Literature. Dr. Emily Corbett of Goldsmiths at the University of London wrote the article.
The abstract reports that Dr. Corbett’s article “examines the peritextual materials of a broad range of Anglo-American transgender young adult novels published in the twenty-first century, in the context of the We Need Diverse Books movement and Time’s ‘transgender tipping point’ which coincided in the mid-2010s.”
“In doing so,” the abstract continues, “it shows how the field of transgender young adult fiction has developed over the last five or so years to include more variety, intersectional diversity, and Own Voices authorship.”
“Jude Saves the World,” another required reading for the course, is described by its publisher as “the joyful and heartwarming story of Jude, a nonbinary kid who knows exactly who they are and decides to create a safe space in their community.”
This book explores concepts such as so-called “deadnaming,” when a gender-confused person continues to be referred to by their given name.
Growing Calls
Since Monday, Harrison has called for the termination of McCoul, Johansen, and Welsh. He also said all LBGT and DEI instruction must be terminated.
Harrison referred TAMU to the U.S. Department of Education. After the story of the class encounter broke, Harmeet Dhillon, the U.S. assistant attorney general for civil rights, stated that her division “will look into this.”
Welsh first issued a statement late September 8 that “effective immediately,” he directed the dean and department head to be removed from their “administrative positions.”
Gov. Greg Abbott stated McCoul should be fired, which has now happened.
Harrison continues to demand the firing of not only McCoul, but also Johansen and Welsh.
The regents are appointed by Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
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