Texas A&M Makes $1M Amends With Ousted Black Journalism Professor Kathleen McElroy

Texas A&M has reached a $1 million settlement with Dr. Kathleen McElroy, the Black professor hired to revive its defunct journalism department, after failing to honor its original agreement due to her past curriculum focused on diversity.

After several faculty members stepped down for their roles in the botched hiring, the university has agreed to pay McElroy, admitting “mistakes were made during the hiring process.” As previously reported, on June 13, 2023, the university celebrated the hiring of the former New York Times journalist with a glowing statement saying, “A veteran journalist with more than 40 years of experience has been hired to direct Texas A&M University’s new journalism program” but the welcome wagon slowly turned into opposition a short time after. McElroy would turn to local papers to express her disappointment in having had her offer of a tenured position revoked in favor of a one-year, at-will contract, which she declined.

The Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, José Luis Bermúdez, and Texas A&M’s President Katherine Banks, have since resigned.

According to the Associated Press, the university has released a joint statement with McElroy regarding the settlement assuring students and faculty that the school “has learned from its mistakes and will strive to ensure similar mistakes are not repeated in the future.” Though she will not be heading up the journalism department as initially expected, McElroy hopes that her willingness to advocate for herself and the university’s subsequent actions will be a guiding post for future attempts to diversify curriculum and faculty at the historic institution. “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,” she said. She went on to call the matter “resolved” and will continue her work as a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin, the liberal rival of Texas A&M.