In his piece, Zook reckoned with the flagging pride he felt in the aftermath of news from his alma mater making national headlines — a professor named Melissa McCoul was the subject of a viral video in which McCoul gets into a disagreement with a student while teaching a lesson on gender studies.
ICYMI (and who could blame you, given the whiplash of news these days): McCoul was fired, and administrators Mark Zoran and Emily Johansen were stripped of their administrative duties by A&M President Mark Welsh after the video made its rounds. However, audio from a conversation between Welsh and the same student was released, in which Welsh initially tells the student that McCoul would not be fired. Gov. Greg Abbott then took to social media to demand McCoul be fired for "acting contrary to Texas law," though he didn't cite a specific law for the alleged offense.
Welsh said McCoul's course was "inconsistent" with the curriculum description when he gave his reason for firing her. McCoul, however, says she did not receive prior notice of such inconsistency and that the termination violates her constitutional rights.
Zook found Welsh's capitulation to be unbecoming of the values that A&M claims to represent.
"What a shame, then, to see the university’s leadership behaving without the honor and integrity the school purports to represent," Zook wrote.
A&M isn't exactly on a success streak with this kind of subject matter, either.
This comes after a judge recently ordered the A&M system to lift its "pause" of on-campus drag performances. The university said the move was in accordance with an executive order from President Donald Trump regarding "gender ideology." U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas Judge Lee H. Rosenthal ruled the order was too vague to be applied to A&M's "pause," while advocates argued it was a violation of the First Amendment.
Zook wrote that A&M's firing of McCoul was a move that reflects disrespect for LGBTQ alums, students and staff.
"Rather than defending intellectual curiosity, openness and equality, Welsh and his cronies kowtowed to those in power," he wrote. "They would rather sacrifice A&M’s integrity than risk a single penny of funding from an anti-science, anti-civil rights administration. In doing so, they not only dishonor themselves, they disrespect the proud, queer members of the Aggie family who have walked the university’s campus and whose tuition money goes into the same coffers as the money from bigots who deny their existence. Defending them just isn’t as popular these days."
We heard from readers who felt similarly, and they made sure to tell us so through letters to the editor:
"
I think that more students should be aware of who and what Texas A&M stands for now. It will help future college students such as myself have an easier time deciding which one to attend, as I will never send an application to a college that supports such harsh ideologies. As a transgender person, I have already seen countless institutes and corporations bow down to the Trump administration’s words. It is disheartening, as it seems like no one has any spine to stand up to such an evil group of people, and now Texas A&M is another institution in that list of cowards. Now that I know that this college goes against me, what I am, who I am, and what I stand for, it’s very obvious that I will never consider attending it after graduation. It’s time for us to start calling out and shaming anyone and anything that genuinely supports this evil and cruel administration." - Natalie in Dallas
"Personally, I believe that the teacher and staff should not have been fired from Texas A&M. Also, I believe that the University should have picked the students over the government. I have personally seen on the internet the injustices that have been happening to people of different genders. For example, the push of anti-gender equality laws and the silencing of individuals who are advocating for gender rights. I call on Texas A&M to think deeply about its decision. The decision to choose government funding over the students will deeply affect the university. Many students who go to Texas A&M refer to themselves as gender neutral or of a different gender. A&M is against gender equality; meanwhile, they are getting tuition money from those who support it. If Texas A&M continues this, there will be fewer people wanting to go to the university, and Texas A&M will get less money." - Elia M.
"The teacher shouldn’t have gotten fired for talking about genders. What really hassled me was that the student acknowledged that the teacher would have gotten fired and still posted the video on social media to ruin a career. I believe it was intentional, and the student posted the video hoping to go viral. Even if she personally didn’t appreciate the topic, she could have respectfully told the teacher instead of making it a huge deal. I have personally witnessed people get told they can’t express their opinions and beliefs. This contradicts the First Amendment, freedom of speech; people should be able to express themsel[ves]. That could go with talking about your opinion on LGBTQ+, even if people don’t support it, they should at least be able to respect it." - Giselle S.Have an opinion on this you'd like to share with us and the Dallas community? Email [email protected] (and it might get published in our Opinion section).
