Texas A&M University did not have good cause to fire Melissa McCoul, an English professor thrust into the spotlight after a video of her discussing gender identity circulated online and drew political backlash, a faculty committee unanimously found in a new report.
The university fired McCoul after a student secretly recorded her in a summer class teaching that there are more than two genders. The video was posted to X by state Rep. Brian Harrison, R-Midlothian, an Aggie who has used his social media to pressure universities to remove course content he finds offensive.
Texas A&M did not dismiss her until after Harrison’s post in September went viral. It said it did not fire her for teaching there are more than two genders, but for failing to change her course content to align with the catalog description. There is no state or federal law prohibiting instruction on gender identity in college classes. She appealed the termination through the university’s Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and Responsibility.
An eight-member panel from the committee held a full-day hearing on Nov. 3 and issued its findings to Interim President Tommy Williams on Nov. 18. Williams can accept the finding and reinstate McCoul or reject it and uphold her termination.
The committee reviewed all three reasons Texas A&M gave for firing McCoul — that she failed to perform her duties, violated policies and acted unprofessionally — and unanimously rejected each one. It also found the university failed to investigate, did not follow its own policies and never proved the allegations used to justify her dismissal.
“The university did not provide any documentary evidence that it conducted an investigation, nor did it provide compelling testimony to explain the decision to forgo due process,” the report said, adding that the lack of review “caused considerable confusion in the president’s office and the TAMU administration.”
Texas A&M administrators are required to meet with an instructor and notify them when a dismissal is being considered so they have an opportunity to respond before any action is taken. The committee said it heard testimony from university officials acknowledging that they didn’t do that with McCoul.
The committee also found that McCoul was never told to change her course content and did not have the authority to assign a different course number, even though one university official cited that as “one of three strikes” against her.
Finally, the committee said the university should’ve investigated the student who recorded McCoul to determine whether her behavior violated university rules that state disrupting or interfering with instruction can lead to disciplinary action.
A separate faculty committee concluded in September that McCoul’s firing appeared to violate her academic freedom, but university officials said that committee lacked authority to review her dismissal and rejected its findings.
Texas A&M said in a statement that officials are aware of the Committee on Academic Freedom, Tenure and Responsibility’s “non-binding findings” and that Williams has received the report and will review it “carefully before making a decision in the coming days and weeks.”
McCoul’s attorney, Amanda Reichek, said in a statement that her client is “pleased and thankful” with the committee’s findings and waiting to see if Williams will reinstate her. If he does not, she said, McCoul will “swiftly pursue her First Amendment, due process and breach of contract claims in court.”
Reichek also argued the firing followed political pressure, saying “the sequence of events establishes that A&M terminated Dr. McCoul shortly after Governor Greg Abbott implored them to on X.” She called the university’s stated reasons “a pretext for the University’s true motivation: capitulation to Governor Abbott’s demands.”
The incident involving McCoul triggered restrictive curriculum policies and reviews at Texas A&M and other university systems across the state. It also unfolded as Senate Bill 37 took effect, giving governor-appointed regents greater authority over curriculum decisions.
Earlier this month, the Texas A&M Board of Regents approved two new policies. One requires each of its 12 campus presidents to sign off on any course that could be seen as advocating for “race and gender ideology or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity.” The other prohibits faculty from teaching material inconsistent with the approved syllabus for each course. Administrators also announced courses would be audited every semester using artificial intelligence.
The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
Learn about The Texas Tribune’s policies, including our partnership with The Trust Project to increase transparency in news.
