Air Force • Woke Agenda

Retired 4-Star Air Force General to Resign as Texas A&M President Because of Wokeness

19 September 2025

Long story condensed: a Texas A&M student called out a Children’s Literature course where the professor was pushing the LGBTQIA+ and transgender agenda.

The student met with retired USAF General Mark Welsh, USAFA ’76 (whose was Chief of Staff of the Air Force from 2012-2016) to voice her concerns about the university not complying with the Commander-in-Chief’s Executive Orders banning the promotion of this agenda/ideology. He dismissed her concerns and thought it legitimate that this ideology be taught there.

This is not new. See this 2023 story: Texas A&M, led by retired 4-Star USAF General, defies Texas DEI bans. He also voiced his disapproval early on with what STARRS was doing to fight back against the divisive Marxist-rooted CRT/DEI agenda in the military and service academies.

Because the recent incident of the video of the professor and the meeting with Gen. Welsh went widely public, Welsh was forced to fire the professor and dean. But it was NOT because of the ideology but he said it was because the Children’s Literature course description did not state that LGBTQIA+ and transgender was part of the curriculum. That doesn’t sit right.

Texas State Representative Brian Harrison, who publicized the student’s plight had said this about Gen. Welsh:

“He spent the past month protecting this professor, berating the student, dismissing concerns that her constitutional rights were violated when she was kicked out of class, attempting to gaslight the student into believing she was the problem, advocating for even more DEI and LGBTQ courses at A&M, and has been engaged in behavior since his actions were exposed. He should be fired.”

Here’s the latest from the Daily Wire. Another example of Go Woke, Go Broke, but also that advocates of the radical woke agenda can be at the highest levels:

Texas A&M President To Resign After Leftist Politics Infiltrated University Children’s Lit Course
Videos first reported by The Daily Wire showed a professor advocating for leftist views on sex and gender.

By Zach Jewell | The Daily Wire

Texas A&M President Mark Welsh is set to step down on Friday after a wave of criticism over his handling of a controversy that erupted after an English professor was filmed pushing pro-LGBT talking points during a children’s literature course and telling a student who opposed her to leave a lecture.

Welsh, a retired four-star U.S. Air Force General who was appointed by former President Barack Obama to be Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force from 2012 to 2016, fired Dr. Melissa McCoul last week, but his actions were not enough to quell some of the outrage over Texas A&M’s handling of the situation. The university’s Board of Regents announced on Thursday that Welsh would resign, The New York Times reported.

“President Welsh is a man of honor who has led Texas A&M with selfless dedication,” the university system’s chancellor, Glenn Hegar, said in a statement, adding, “At the same time, we agree that now is the right moment to make a change and to position Texas A&M for continued excellence in the years ahead.”

Videos obtained and shared by Republican Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison and first reported by The Daily Wire on September 8 showed McCoul advocating for leftist views on sex and gender during a lecture over the summer. Slides from the course reviewed by The Daily Wire also showed that the class devoted considerable attention to sex, gender, and “queerness.”

One student confronted the professor over the leftist ideology, pointing to the Trump administration’s recent actions to crack down on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the government and public universities. McCoul argued that her teachings on gender identity and gender expression were “biologically true,” adding that she did not believe that the student would be able to stop her from teaching those ideas.

“Because I do have the legal and ethical authority [and] professional expertise in this classroom. It’s time for you to leave,” McCoul told the student in a video that Harrison posted on X.

After the student complained about the LGBT themes in the children’s literature course, Welsh acknowledged that the class content “did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course.”

Welsh’s action to change the course content and fire McCoul, however, only came after an intense public pressure campaign, which was led by Harrison.

In a phone call with the student after the complaint had been raised, the Texas A&M president said that the student was trying to “pick a fight” and defended teaching LGBT content in other courses as long as it was properly shown on course syllabi.

Welsh’s move to fire McCoul wasn’t enough for some people, while the decision enraged others.

“This is about trying to tell faculty members not to teach certain topics,” said Leonard Bright, a professor of public service and administration at Texas A&M, according to the Times. “The rules are clear — we are the experts in our classes, and we get to design our courses.”

After McCoul was fired, Harrison told The Daily Wire, “President Welsh is engaged in a cover up and deserves no credit.”

“He spent the past month protecting this professor, berating the student, dismissing concerns that her constitutional rights were violated when she was kicked out of class, attempting to gaslight the student into believing she was the problem, advocating for even more DEI and LGBTQ courses at A&M, and has been engaged in behavior since his actions were exposed,” Harrison added. “He should be fired.”

The Republican state lawmaker celebrated in a post on Thursday after it was reported that Welsh was stepping down.

“WE DID IT! TEXAS A&M PRESIDENT IS OUT!!” Harrison posted on X. “Another MASSIVE victory for the LIBERTY BOTS against the Austin Swamp Rats! As the first elected official to call for him to be fired, this news is welcome, although overdue. Now… END ALL DEI AND LGBTQ INDOCTRINATION IN TEXAS!!”

Texas A&M will appoint an interim president as it conducts a national search for a new leader, according to the Board of Regents.

First published on The Daily Wire

 

Previous story:

WATCH: Texas A&M Student Booted From Lecture After Objecting To Professor Pushing Radical Gender Theory
The university told The Daily Wire that it is taking steps to “ensure all course content aligns with the course curriculum moving forward.”

By Zach Jewell | The Daily Wire,  Sept 8, 2025

A Texas A&M student was told to leave a lecture after pushing back on a professor promoting leftist gender ideas during a children’s literature course.

Videos shared by Texas Republican State Rep. Brian Harrison on Monday show a student confronting Dr. Melissa McCoul during a children’s literature class, during which McCoul pushed leftist views on sex, gender, and race.

The class, which was aimed at getting students to “think critically about what [children’s literature] can tell us about how we (and others) understand childhood,” devoted considerable attention to sex, gender, and “queerness,” according to slides reviewed by The Daily Wire. One slide titled “Why talk about queerness at all?” denied that the sexual topic was inappropriate for young children.

The student, who wishes to remain anonymous, told McCoul during one class that the course material went against President Donald Trump’s orders on gender and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

“Thinking that homosexuality or queer people are always ‘x-rated’ is an effect of heteronormativity, the idea that heterosexual or straight is normal as well as normative,” the slide reads.

“This also goes against, not only myself, but a lot of people’s religious beliefs,” the student added. “And so I am not going to participate in this because it’s not legal.”

McCoul then asked the student if she was “suggesting” that the teaching on gender and sex was “false.”

“Yes,” the student said.

“You are under a misconception that what I’m saying is illegal,” the professor replied.

McCoul then said that her teachings on gender identity and gender expression are “biologically true,” adding that she did not believe that the student would be able to stop her from teaching those ideas.

“Because I do have the legal and ethical authority [and] professional expertise in this classroom,” McCoul told the student. “It’s time for you to leave.”

Harrison, who served as the chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services during Trump’s first term, told The Daily Wire that the videos show the Texas A&M professor is “absolutely engaged in transgender indoctrination.” He argued that McCoul and other A&M officials be fired.

“This is one of the clearest and most disgusting examples of taxpayer abuse and the weaponization of Texans’ tax money against them, against their values, against their children,” Harrison said.

Trump signed an executive order on January 20 declaring, “It is the policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female.” In another executive order, Trump called DEI policies “illegal,” and the Trump administration has opened investigations into universities that push DEI programs on their students and faculty. Texas A&M has been awarded federal grants, including for its research on “forever chemicals” and its efforts to develop clean energy.

A Texas A&M official told The Daily Wire, “We are aware of an isolated incident in which a summer course’s content was misaligned with the course curriculum. The college took steps in collaboration with faculty to ensure all course content aligns with the course curriculum moving forward.”

While the federal government has pushed back on DEI and radical leftist gender ideology, Republican-led Texas has fallen behind in putting a stop to radical ideas being promoted at universities, Harrison says.

“I have filed legislation for a long time now to stop taxpayer funding of DEI and transgender indoctrination, and every attempt legislatively to end this is killed by nominal Republicans in the Texas government,” the lawmaker added.

In another clip, the A&M student tells McCoul, “I held my mouth closed this whole semester about my personal beliefs, but part of my rights is [that] this goes against my religion.”

“So you are very free to leave, and now is the time to do that,” the professor said. After the confrontation, McCoul asked the class, “Are there other questions I can answer about the sex gender system or non-binary identities?”

One book required in McCoul’s class was “Princess Princess Ever After,” a comic book story about a princess who is rescued from her tower prison by another princess. The two female characters fall in love, and the book ends with a gay wedding. “Princess Princess Ever After” is written for kids between the ages of 9 and 12, according to a review from lesbian culture website AfterEllen.

Another slide showed a “Gender Unicorn” graph put together by Trans Student Educational Resources. Yet another slide was titled “Let’s talk gender in children’s lit!” and argued that “Childhood is the time for figuring out how to be a boy, girl, man, woman, or another gender.”

The student who confronted McCoul about the leftist curriculum raised her concerns with the department head and eventually with Texas A&M President Mark Welsh. Texas A&M administrators then met with McCoul to discuss the class and decided to move McCoul to teach young adult literature instead of children’s literature.

In a recorded phone call between the student and Welsh, the Texas A&M president stated that the university would review the children’s literature course and discuss providing more detailed descriptions of any classes that teach radical gender theory. Welsh told the student that “there’s not a problem” teaching LGBT literature as long as the university makes it clear it will be part of a class.

When the student asked President Welsh if any more changes would be made, such as firing McCoul, Welsh accused the student of attempting to “pick a fight,” adding that the university would not punish the professor.

Harrison sent a letter to Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, along with a separate letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Monday, calling on the state and federal government to take action against Texas A&M.

“I have previously referred Texas A&M to the Trump Administration for investigation into discriminatory DEI practices, and I am now expanding that request,” Harrison wrote. “Since the Texas government has not ended this taxpayer-funded liberal indoctrination, I am writing to respectfully request that you or other relevant divisions or agencies take any appropriate action(s) to ensure that Texas universities receiving federal funds are complying with President Trump’s Executive Orders.”

The Daily Wire has also reached out to the Department of Education, requesting comment.

https://catalog.tamu.edu/undergraduate/course-descriptions/comm/

Texas A&M, led by retired 4-Star USAF General, defies Texas DEI bans

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