A Texas A&M Mays Dean Search Committee survey shows that Nate Sharp, one of three candidates under consideration for the position, was not preferred by professors or staff, but he was selected and approved by former A&M President Katherine Banks.
Banks resigned in 2023 following controversy over the attempted hiring of a radical, pro-DEI journalism professor to lead A&M’s revamped journalism school. The same year, Claremont Scholar Scott Yenor outlined how Banks established STRIDE–a policy that trained faculty search committees to gauge a candidate’s level of support for DEI.
A source has provided Texas Scorecard with the search committee’s survey. The names of the alternative candidates are being withheld at the request of the source. The source’s name does not appear on the survey.
The survey results showed that an alternate candidate was widely preferred over Sharp. Overall, one of the candidates received 64.7 percent approval compared to Sharp’s 46 percent approval—a difference of 18.7 percentage points.
Survey participants included tenured faculty, tenure track faculty, academic profession track professors, staff, students, and other internal or external participants.
Only 36 percent of tenured professors said Sharp would be an “excellent and effective Dean,” while 32 percent of academic profession track (APT) professors and 30 percent of staff agreed. Students preferred Sharp by roughly 5 percentage points.
Following Sharp’s hiring by Banks, he established the Black Accounting Student Success (BASS) Initiative. The program gave race-restrictive scholarships solely to black students in an effort to change the department’s demographics and was part of Sharp’s stated effort to advance DEI.
Race-exclusionary scholarships are now illegal under Senate Bill 17, a state law that bans DEI offices and initiatives at universities. It is also illegal under federal law and A&M System policy, according to A&M’s financial aid website.
Sharp’s recent promotion of a race-exclusionary conference to students and faculty came under fire from top Texas officials. In response, Gov. Greg Abbott threatened to fire Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh if the institution continued its involvement.
As the news gained traction on social media, journalist Christoper Rufo highlighted that Sharp’s job application letter emphasized his commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion practices.
Sharp also wrote that he supported ESG initiatives in his letter to the Mays Dean Search Committee.
A Board of Regents oversees the Texas A&M University System. They are appointed by Gov. Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
The Texas A&M Board of Regents are Chairman Bill Mahomes, Vice Chairman Robert L. Albritton, David Baggett, John Bellinger, James R. “Randy” Brooks, Jay Graham, Michael A. “Mike” Hernandez III, Michael J. Plank, and Sam Torn.
Concerned citizens may contact them through their TAMUS email addresses below:
Regent-bob-albritton@tamus.edu
Regent-david-baggett@tamus.edu
Regent-john-bellinger@tamus.edu
Regent-randy-brooks@tamus.edu
Regent-jay-graham@tamus.edu
Regent-mike-hernandez@tamus.edu
Regent-bill-mahomes@tamus.edu
Regent-michael-plank@tamus.edu
Regent-sam-torn@tamus.edu
No ads. No paywalls. No government grants. No corporate masters.
Just real news for real Texans.
Support Texas Scorecard to keep it that way!