In College Station, Texas A&M University came under scrutiny from the office of Gov. Greg Abbott following an exchange on social media Monday.
The story began when Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist with the think-tank the Manhattan Institute, posted an internal email from A&M on the social media website X. The message discussed potential attendance at a conference of an organization called The PhD Project.
Rufo posted an image from the conference’s website, listing requirements for those wishing to attend. One stipulation is that attendees must identify as Black, Hispanic or Native American. The PhD Project has a stated goal of “diversifying corporate America by diversifying the role models in the front of classrooms.”
Gov. Abbott responded to the posts by seeming to threaten Texas A&M University president Mark Welsh III’s job. Abbott posted “It’s against Texas law and violates the U.S. Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone.”
The Dallas Morning News reports the A&M email said the university system’s general counsel had confirmed that the conference complied with the state’s ban on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.
On Tuesday, Texas A&M University published a statement saying the university “will continue to honor both the letter and intent of the law,” referring to Senate Bill 17, the anti-DEI measure that was passed in 2023.
“Texas A&M does not support any organization, conference, process or activity that excludes people based on race, creed, gender, age or any other discriminating factor,” the statement said.
The Texas Tribune reports Welsh sent an email to the Mays Business School on Monday evening. The message said “This particular conference’s limitations on the acceptable race of attendees is not in line with the intent of SB 17, and, as a result, we will not be sending anyone to participate in this conference,” he wrote.
The Tribune also reports that according to the law, the ban does not apply to instruction, research, the activity of a student organization, guest speakers or performers, data collection and student recruitment. The Texas A&M University student newspaper, The Batallion, reports that at least eight other public universities in Texas have participated in the conference.
