AUSTIN, Texas – Some Aggies are expressing disappointment after hearing how Texas A&M University botched the hiring of a journalism professor.
Kathleen McElroy was leaving a tenured position at the University of Texas at Austin to start a journalism program at her alma mater. But when conservatives expressed concern over her previous work at the New York Times and her support for diversity in newsrooms, the university changed the offer twice. McElroy didn’t end up accepting.
“It was a complete shock, because it was basically a 180 from how it started,” said Nicholas Gutteridge, a sophomore at A&M. “When her hiring was first announced, it was like a coach was hired, you know? There were celebrations everywhere.”
Then, the celebrations stopped. Gutteridge writes for A&M school’s newspaper, The Battalion. He’s been reporting on how the university mistreated the highly respected journalist when trying to hire her.
“It's hard to overstate how much of a win it would have been for A&M, just because she was the perfect fit," Gutteridge said. "She had four years of experience as UT Austin's director of journalism. She knew how to build a curriculum… So it was just a shock.”
A&M watered down her offer. It was originally a five-year deal, and then it went down to one year with no opportunity for tenure.
In text messages obtained by The Battalion, one university regent wrote, “I thought the purpose of us starting a journalism department was to get high-quality Aggie journalist[s] with conservative values into the market. This won’t happen with someone like this leading the department.”
“The administrators, and what's come out about them, is very disappointing,” Gutteridge said. “It kind of makes you ask the question, are they really here to help us learn and, you know, make sure we have the best education possible? Or are they trying to push a message?”
Before teaching at the University of Texas at Austin, McElroy was a professional journalist for 30 years at publications including the Austin-American Statesman and the New York Times.
A&M is paying McElroy a million dollars after the fallout. Also, the university president resigned, and the interim head of the college of arts and sciences stepped down but will remain a professor.
In a statement, the university wrote in part, “The leadership of Texas A&M apologizes to Dr. McElroy for the way her employment application was handled, has learned from its mistakes and will strive to ensure similar mistakes are not repeated in the future.”
During the legislative session, a bill passed to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices at public universities.
Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, championed this effort, saying in a statement after the bill’s passage that Texas is “ensuring our campuses return to focusing on the strength of diversity and promoting a merit-based approach where individuals are judged on their qualifications, skills, and contributions.”
But Erica Rouse, a graduate of A&M, thinks conversations at the Capitol surrounding DEI contributed to how McElroy was treated.
"It went from disappointing, to really heartbreaking, to now really kind of disgusting,” Rouse said. “When you're a Black Aggie, you sometimes wonder, ‘Where does my voice matter in any of this? Or do we?'”
Rouse is also president of A&M’s Black Former Student Network. She studied journalism back in the day before the program was cut. She thinks it would have been beneficial for students to learn from someone like McElroy.
“You need that perspective, you need that guidance, you need that understanding to frame your goals around how you want a career path. It's very hard to [find a] career path with people that have never had a career in that area,” Rouse said. “Then, you also think about the different people that are in her network of folks that she knows, the people that she can pull from for expertise… I know she has a robust network of just professionals that have had, and are still having, active careers in journalism.”
McElroy is not doing interviews at this time. In a statement, she wrote, “My career continues as does my commitment to journalism, higher education and trying to do the right thing.”
McElroy will continue to be a tenured professor at the University of Texas at Austin.