Texas A&M recruited a UT professor to revive its journalism program,backtracked after "DEI hysteria

[BeckyDem]

The university celebrated its decision to hire Kathleen McElroy to revive its journalism program. She says she’s staying at UT after she felt judged because of her race and gender.

BY KATE MCGEE JULY 11, 2023 3 HOURS AGO

When Texas A&M University announced last month that it had hired a director to revive its journalism school, it included the kind of fanfare usually reserved for college coaches and athletes.

The university set up maroon, silver and white balloons around a table outside its Academic Building for an official signing ceremony. It was there that Kathleen O. McElroy, a respected journalist with a long career, officially accepted the position to run the new program and teach as a tenured professor, pending approval from the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents.

McElroy, a 1981 Texas A&M graduate, was the director of the University of Texas at Austin’s School of Journalism between 2016 and 2022, where she is a tenured professor. Earlier, she spent 20 years in various editing roles at The New York Times until heading to UT-Austin to pursue her doctorate.

She has studied news media and race, with a focus on how to improve diversity and inclusion within newsrooms, and spent her career covering other areas like sports and obituaries. Her master's thesis focused on the obituaries of civil rights leaders. Now, she was excited to head back to her alma mater to build a brand new program there.
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/11/texas-a-m-kathleen-mcelroy-journalism/


( Cesspool of hatred. )

[AndyS]

1. Oh shit. I wonder what campus she was selected for. I graduated from the

the Commerce, TX campus (it was East Texas University) in the mid '70s. It had a strong Journalism department and offered everything from Linotype (antique!) to broadcast. I graduated from the Photography department, a subset of Journalism, with and MS.

This sucks. Fucking Republicans. What they can't tear up they shit on.

[Paladin]

2. Thanks for nothing, A&M.

Same for all the anti-DEI fascists who are corrupting education in Texas.

"Cesspool of hatred" is a perfect description of this sorry situation.

[DBoon]

3. We are in full fledged McCartyism

"Are you now or have you ever worked for the New York Times"

[dalton99a]

4. Kick

Behind the scenes, A&M spent weeks altering the terms of her job. After hearing about the concerns, McElroy agreed to a five-year contract position without tenure, which would have avoided a review by regents. On Sunday, she received a third offer, this time with a one-year contract and emphasizing that the appointment was at will and that she could be terminated at any time. She has rejected the offer and shared all of the offer letters with the Tribune.

On Friday, McElroy said, she got a call from A&’s interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, José Luis Bermúdez, warning her that there were people who could force leadership to fire her and he could not protect her.

Ultimately, he advised her to stay in her tenured role at UT-Austin.

On Sunday, she received the latest iteration of an offer letter, which was different from the one she publicly signed on campus. Texas A&M was now offering her a one-year contract as a professor without tenure, and a three-year appointment as the director of the journalism program, though it noted that she could be fired at any time, she said.

“This offer letter on Sunday really makes it clear that they don’t want me there,” she said. “But in no shape, form or fashion would I give up a tenured position at UT for a one-year contract that emphasizes that you can be let go at any point.”