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Texas A&M President Resigns After Botched Hire of Black Journalism Professor

ABOVE: Kathleen McElroy is announced as director of Texas A&M’s Communications & Journalism Department in a ceremony outside the Academic Building. (Photo by Meredith Seaver/The Eagle) The president of Texas A&M University has resigned after the botched hiring of a Black journalism professor. M. Katherine Banks resigned as president last Thursday, after a tenure marred […]
The post Texas A&M President Resigns After Botched Hire of Black Journalism Professor first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

3 years ago

July 26, 2023

Forward Times Staff

ABOVE: Kathleen McElroy is announced as director of Texas A&M’s Communications & Journalism Department in a ceremony outside the Academic Building. (Photo by Meredith Seaver/The Eagle)

The president of Texas A&M University has resigned after the botched hiring of a Black journalism professor. M. Katherine Banks resigned as president last Thursday, after a tenure marred by controversy. In Feb. 2022, she drew fire for demanding that Texas A&M’s student newspaper The Battalion stop printing immediately. Banks ordered the paper to shift to online-only publication without consulting student leaders or journalism professors, then reversed the decision after campus outcry. (The Battalion now prints once a week.) Then A&M pulled funding and sponsorship from an on-campus drag show called “Draggieland,” further angering students. But the last straw was the hiring of a leader for the school’s journalism program.

Texas A&M ended its journalism program in 2004. But Banks chose to bring back the program in 2021. One prime candidate for leadership was journalist Kathleen McElroy. McElroy is an A&M alumna (Class of 1981) who earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism. She was then hired at The Eagle and worked in news, sports and features. From 1991 to 2011, McElroy worked at the New York Times, serving in positions like deputy editor and dining editor. She was director of the journalism school at the University of Texas at Austin from 2018 to 2022.

Former A&M president M. Katherine Banks (Photo from InsideHigherEd.com)

A&M offered McElroy a position as director of the program and as a professor with tenure (pending approval by the A&M Board of Regents). She signed a contract June 13 in a ceremony complete with silver, maroon and white balloons.

The very next day, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law a bill banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at publicly funded universities. The law bans universities from creating DEI offices, hiring employees for DEI work, or requiring diversity/DEI training as a condition of hiring or admission. DEI initiatives can make campuses more diverse, but they’re a target of conservatives who view them as racially divisive.

McElroy got swept up in this whirlwind. Though she wasn’t a DEI proponent, she was labeled as such by conservative publication Texas Scorecard in an article published June 15. Within days, murmurs of protest were forming. The Rudder Association (a conservative alumni group including former students and faculty) told the New York Times it had complained to campus leadership about the hire and that McElroy “wasn’t a good fit.”

On June 19, McElroy spoke with José Luis Bermúdez, interim dean of A&M’s College of Arts & Sciences. According to notes McElroy took and later shared, Bermúdez told her that the culture at A&M differed from UT’s. He said it would be difficult to have her tenure approved by the Board and advised her to forego it. McElroy verbally agreed to a five-year contract without tenure and an August meeting with the Board of Regents.

Days later, they spoke again; Bermúdez told her there was “noise in the system” about her hiring. When pressed on the reason why, he replied: “Because you’re a Black woman who worked at the New York Times.” Bermúdez told her that in some conservative circles, the New York Times is viewed as similar to Pravda — the official newspaper of the Communist Party during the days of the Soviet Union.

Then, in a July 7 phone call, Bermúdez told McElroy her hiring had “stirred up a hornet’s nest” and that “even if he hired me, these people could make him fire me.” He advised her to remain at UT. She did just that, after receiving A&M’s new offer letter on July 9. Instead of the five-year deal she’d agreed to, McElroy was offered a one-year appointment “at will,” meaning she could be fired for any reason.

On July 11, McElroy was scheduled to return to UT Austin (where she has tenure). On July 17, Bermúdez resigned from his position as interim dean, saying the hiring was a “distraction.” At a July 19 Faculty Senate meeting, Banks said there was no record of the five-year deal McElroy agreed to and that her administration was unaware of the one-year offer.

Two days later, Banks herself resigned in a letter to A&M System Chancellor John Sharp. “The recent challenges regarding Dr. McElroy have made it clear to me that I must retire immediately,” she wrote. “The negative press is a distraction from the wonderful work being done here.”

Department head Dr. Hart Blanton wasted no time spilling tea. “In a July 21 document emailed to select Texas A&M faculty, Hart Blanton, Ph.D., head of the Department of Communication and Journalism, stated former university President M. Katherine Banks was dishonest about Kathleen McElroy’s botched hiring during the July 19 emergency Faculty Senate meeting and claimed his signature was forged on the second written offer sent to McElroy,” per the Battalion.

“Then-President M. Katherine Banks misled the Faculty Senate,” Blanton wrote. “She represented that the decision-making that led to the crisis was at the department level. To the contrary, President Banks injected herself into the process atypically and early on.”

“The unusual level of scrutiny being given to the hiring of Dr. McElroy was acknowledged by one administrator to have been based, at least in part, on race,” Blanton said, adding: “I understand it to be illegal for any employer — much less a public university — to subject a job candidate to stricter scrutiny due to her race or color.”

Blanton said he didn’t agree to subsequent job offers. “I was shocked to learn an earlier draft of a job offer letter for Dr. McElroy was altered and sent to her without my advance knowledge,” he said. “The altered draft retained my electronic signature, but reduced the appointment from an earlier-discussed multiyear term to one.” Blanton’s now calling for an independent investigation, as are the Texas Legislative Black Caucus and the Texas NAACP.

The post Texas A&M President Resigns After Botched Hire of Black Journalism Professor appeared first on Forward Times.

The post Texas A&M President Resigns After Botched Hire of Black Journalism Professor first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

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NFL: Week Two Recap | Jalen Hurts did not fold; Caleb Williams exits game with injury

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts found Darius Cooper with nine seconds left for the game winning touchdown as his team beat the Tennessee Titans 24-20 in Nashville. Hurts finished the day 26/37 for 264 yards. He threw for two touchdowns and two interceptions. Prior to the final drive, the Eagles ran 25 plays for 45 […]
The post NFL: Week Two Recap | Jalen Hurts did not fold; Caleb Williams exits game with injury appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 20, 2026

Oakland Post

Prior to the final drive, the Eagles ran 25 plays for 45 yards. During the final drive Hurts went 6-8 with 61 passing yards and the touchdown. Titans defensive tackle — and team captain — Jeffery Simmons said this week that the way to defend Jalen Hurts is to make him “play quarterback.”

Hurts said to Simmons after today’s game: “You started that sh**. I had to finish it.”

Running back Saquon Barkley suffered a stinger in the first half but he ultimately finished the game. He had four carries and nine yards and one catch for eleven yards. He will get an MRI for his injury, but admitted to Cameron Wolfe of the NFL Network he was fine.

Caleb Williams leaves game against Vikings with apparent lower-body injury

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams was helped off the field with a right leg injury with 7:42 remaining in the fourth quarter. Williams was down, writhing in pain after scrambling to his left. After departing the injury tent, Williams raised his right fist, acknowledging the crowd while expressing his frustration. Testing will commence on Monday to find out more details about his injury.

“We’ll know tomorrow,” Johnson admitted regarding Williams’ injury. “He’s in good spirits. He’s a team player.”

Williams finished the day with 138 passing yards and one interception.

“I’m actually happy it’s nothing with the knee — that was my first inclination,” Johnson said. “But, a hamstring could be pretty damaging as well. So, we’ll see. We’ll see how bad it is tomorrow and we’ll go from there.”

Bryce Young once again dominated the Falcons

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young is 5-1 against the Atlanta Falcons and is undefeated at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Today, Young threw for 287 yards and three touchdowns as he led the Panthers to a 34-3 dismembering of the Atlanta Falcons. Georgia Tech alumnus Darren Waller caught two touchdowns and linebacker Devin Lloyd returned one of his two interceptions for a touchdown.

Cooper Rush started his second straight game for the Falcons and it did not go well. The partisan crowd voiced their displeasure after Rush completed 10/17 passes for 86 yards and two interceptions. Jack Strand entered the game for Rush prompting cheers from the Falcons fans. The rookie threw a pick-six on his first career pass attempt. Strand was the first QB to accomplish that feat since Sam Darnold in 2018 and is the first Falcons player to do that since Brett Favre in 1991. Strand finished the day with 59 passing yards and 16 rushing yards.

According to reports, quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. is expected to make his season debut this Thursday at the Green Bay Packers. His return should help the Falcons. They are the first team since the 2008 Rams to not run any plays in the red zone after the first two games to open a season.

The bright spots for the Falcons today were the Spelman College Jaguarettes performing with the Falcons cheerleaders and Florida A&M’s marching band, The Marching 100, also performed during halftime!

Jayden Daniels gets carted off after apparent arm injury

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels appeared to injure his left elbow on the final play of the first half in his game against the Dallas Cowboys. During the play, Daniels got stepped on, braced himself for the fall, and his elbow bent the wrong way. Daniels draped a towel over his head as he exited the field on the cart.

He was later ruled out.

Daniels suffered a dislocated elbow to the same arm during week nine of last season against the Washington Commanders, which led to him being shut down for the remainder of the season.

The post NFL: Week Two Recap | Jalen Hurts did not fold; Caleb Williams exits game with injury appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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The Complete Negotiation Framework — Every Stage, Every Tactic, Every Win

Master the complete vehicle-purchase negotiation framework with Roosevelt Gist and Roosevelt. Learn every stage, tactic, and win!
The post The Complete Negotiation Framework — Every Stage, Every Tactic, Every Win appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 20, 2026

Oakland Post

Negotiation framework stages, tactics, and winning strategies from AutoNetwork

Roosevelt Gist and Roosevelt deliver the complete vehicle-purchase negotiation framework in Episode 8 of The Color of Our Money Is Green. This episode covers the three foundations of every effective negotiation, the full seven-stage negotiation sequence with exact language for every stage, and five of the most common dealership tactics with the specific response each one requires.
What You Learn in This Episode:
The three foundations that make every negotiation tactic work
The complete seven-stage car-buying negotiation sequence
Exact language for every stage of the dealership conversation
Five common dealership tactics — the turnover, the four-square, the packed payment, spot delivery, and forced add-ons — and how to counter each one
Why signing preliminary paperwork isn’t the same as signing the final contract
___________________________________________________________________
“The Color of Our Money Is Green: A Buyer’s Guide to What Cars Actually Cost” — stan.store/RGist
____________________________________________________________________
AutoNetwork helps serious car shoppers inspect any new vehicle online before walking into a dealership. I’m Roosevelt — I’ve been reviewing cars and shaping digital car buying and credit union auto leasing since before YouTube car reviews existed.
You’ll find detailed walkaround reviews, POV test drives, and buyer-focused breakdowns covering comfort, space, features, and real-world value.

How to use the channel:
Watch the walkaround of the car you’re considering
Visit AutoNetwork.com for the full review
Check CouponsOffersAndDeals.com for current dealer specials
Walk in already knowing what you want — and what it should cost

AutoNetwork.com
CouponsOffersAndDeals.com
Affiliate disclosure: some links earn a small commission at no cost to you and help support the channel. Insta360 is one of those partners.

The post The Complete Negotiation Framework — Every Stage, Every Tactic, Every Win appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

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Mazda CX-90 Luxury: Heated Seats & Premium Comfort! #shorts

Stay toasty in the CX-90! Plush Nappa leather, heated/ventilated seats, and a memory-equipped heated steering wheel deliver ultimate luxury.
The post Mazda CX-90 Luxury: Heated Seats & Premium Comfort! #shorts appeared first on BlackPressUSA.

Published

2 weeks ago

September 20, 2026

Oakland Post

Mazda CX-90 interior with heated seats offering premium comfort.

Experience ultimate comfort in the CX-90. Nappa leather, heated/ventilated seats, 8-way power adjustments, and memory settings for both front passengers. The heated steering wheel with memory tilt/telescope adds premium convenience.

Watch the full video: https://youtu.be/EH5A4eQ4ipY