Texas A&M settles with journalism professor after botched hiring attempt
Texas A&M University (TAMU) announced Thursday it has settled with journalism professor Kathleen McElroy for $1 million after her offer to receive tenure was derailed due to her work on diversity and inclusion.
The university released an internal review of the situation after McElroy’s tenure offer to lead the journalism department fell apart and turned into a one-year nontenured position.
The investigation found the offer was changed due to political reasons.
Former interim College of Arts and Sciences Dean José Bermúdez sent a text message to a colleague that said they needed to wait until after the legislative session to announce McElroy’s original offer because of the negative coverage they could receive from it, according to the probe.
“Bottom line is the NYT connection is poor optics during this particular legislative session,” Bermúdez said in the text, referring to McElroy’s 20-year career at The New York Times.
The legislative session in play ended with Texas passing a law that bans diversity and equity offices at universities in the state.
“Bermudez confirms telling McElroy that he thought the environment at TAMU might be sufficiently unwelcoming based on his view of the political climate that she should see if there is a way that she could retain tenure at UT in the event that things did not work out at TAMU,” the investigation revealed.
McElroy said in a private comment to her Bermúdez mentioned her being a “a Black woman who worked at The New York Times.”
“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,” the school said in a joint statement with McElroy when the settlement was announced.
McElroy has decided to continue teaching at A&M after the incident led to the resignation of M. Katherine Banks, the university's president.
“Texas A&M University remains in my heart despite the events of the past month. I will never forget that Aggies — students, faculty members, former students and staff — voiced support for me from many sectors. I hope the resolution of my matter will reinforce A&M’s allegiance to excellence in higher education and its commitment to academic freedom and journalism,” McElroy said in the joint statement.