Texas A&M’s Woke President Finally Forced Out After Persistently Resisting Texas’ Ban on DEI / LGBT Indoctrination

Mark Welsh III is a left-wing proponent of DEI, LGBT indoctrination, and remedying “white privilege.” He also looks dashing in an Air Force officer’s uniform, and he previously served as the Air Force Chief of Staff. That military bearing was apparently enough to hoodwink Texas politicians and the regents at Texas A&M University into appointing him president of the university in 2023.

After persistently working to subvert the ban on DEI and LGBT indoctrination at taxpayer-funded Texas universities, and thanks to one brave student who caught him on tape defending his defiance, Mark Welsh was finally forced to step down last week. This is another important victory for the populist right in uprooting the woke rot that has captured so many institutions.

One Texas state representative, Brian Harrison, deserves huge credit for his unrelenting campaign to drive President Welsh out of the academic office he was unfit for.

“Texas A&M President Steps Down After LGBT Course Controversy” [Texas Scorecard – 9/18/2025]

Welsh’s resignation caps a period of public uproar sparked by his handling of a children’s literature course that included instruction on introducing LGBT and gender identity material to children as young as three.

The situation came under public scrutiny after State Rep. Brian Harrison (R–Midlothian) released audio of a student objecting to the curriculum and subsequent allegations that the student was kicked out of class for expressing concerns about transgender indoctrination. Initially, Welsh defended the professor involved but later reversed himself—firing the instructor and removing the department head and dean from their posts.

Further below is an embedded Twitter chain that includes the student’s hidden recording of both the professor who was pushing LGBT indoctrination for small children, as well as President Welsh’s strident defense of the professor, which also constituted a strident refusal to comply with the law and with the orders of the governor of Texas.

When the student met with President Welsh, he asked her: ”Tell me what exactly you want changed. I mean, you’re, you’re just trying to pick a fight here. What do you want.”

To which she replied, “No sir, I’m not trying to pick a fight.”

After a little more chatter, Welsh asked the student, “What do you expect us to do, fire her?”

The student replied, “Yes, absolutely, because it goes against…”

At which point President Welsh cut her off and scolded her, “Well that’s not happening.”

Regarding why a children’s literature class is providing training on LGBT indoctrination, President Welch told the student, there is a “professional reason” why A&M is using taxpayer funds to promote transgenderism for children.

Once Rep. Harrison released the audio, Mark Welsh went into CYA mode. Despite what he had told the student, Welsh did indeed have to ultimately fire the instructor and also the dean, hoping that action would be enough to take the heat off of him. But Aggie alumni were outraged, and soon Governor Abbott and the A&M regents were feeling the heat too. Welsh had to go.

Mark Welsh was a disastrous hire from the start. President Obama had previously appointed him as Air Force Chief of Staff in 2012 (which also put Welsh on the armed forces’ Joint Chiefs of Staff) for the purpose of injecting radical left wing identity politics into the military. How radical is Welsh? He advocated for the concept of “white privilege,” stating in 2020 that “While we could argue over the definition of ‘White Privilege,’ there is no question in my mind that it exists. I should know, I grew up with it. Not because I wanted it; not because I asked for it: not because my family or I agreed with it; not because I tried to take advantage of it; and not because I, or anyone else I knew, actively promoted it or even thought about it; but just because it was a reality in our country, and I was white .”

Rep. Harrison sent a widely distributed letter to Governor Abbott on September 8, 2025 that left Abbott and the university regents with little choice but to dismiss Welsh, it read:

Governor Abbott:

This January, during your State of the State Address, you stated that “any educator who tells students that boys can be girls should be fired on the spot.” I agree. While I provided your office with a binder almost a foot thick full of examples of this and DEI occurring in our public universities back in February, nothing has been done to stop it. During my short time in the Texas legislature I have become aware that Texas may be the biggest promoter and funder of DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination in America, and I must make you aware of perhaps the most egregious instance I have uncovered.

I’ve had a Texas A&M whistleblower student provide my office with video evidence of her being kicked out of a “CHILDREN’S LITERATURE” class after she objected to persistent transgender and DEI indoctrination.

Students were forced to learn the “gender unicorn,” which propagandizes extreme transgender ideology. The taxpayer funded professor also taught what could be considered encouragement to engage in criminal child grooming and gave instructional materials that stated: “why talk about queerness at all [in Children’s literature]? Isn’t that way too “adult” for little kids? Well, no.” During a class instruction on “let’s talk gender in children’s lit,” the professor taught that “childhood is the time for figuring out how to be a boy, girl, man, woman, or another gender” and that “children and adolescents are expected to be sexless, even as our culture valorizes, idealizes, and even eroticizes youth.”

After objecting to such instruction occurring, the student was ordered to leave the class and told she was not welcome to return. The whistleblower went to President Welsh, whose indefensible response was to defend the teacher, state that he will not consider firing her, and defend the decision for Texas A&M to teach this material because it was needed training for future public school administrators.

Your office will be given video and audio recordings that corroborate this. While the legislature chose not to stop DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination in our public universities, you have the power to end it.

I am respectfully requesting that you, in line with your January directive, (1) direct your politically appointed regents at Texas A&M to immediately fire this professor and President Welsh, (2) direct all of your politically appointed regents at all of our public universities to immediately take all necessary action necessary to rid all DEI and LGBTQ activity and instruction, and (3) call the legislature back for a special session to finally pass a total ban on taxpayer funded DEI and LGBTQ indoctrination within any state agency, including our public universities.

Thank you for your consideration,

Brian Harrison

The chancellor of the Texas A&M university system, Glenn Hegar, also needs to be fired. He has never stopped defending President Welsh, nor will he acknowledge that Welsh did anything wrong. But having removed Welsh under duress, Chancellor Hegar is still gushing praise on the disgraced university president, making the incoherent argument that Welsh did nothing wrong, yet he had to go, but he’s still a man of honor and integrity. In other words, Chancellor Hegar has just announced that he himself is also unfit for a leadership role at A&M and he too needs to be dismissed of his responsibilities. Hegar is quoted in this CBS piece dated 9/18/2025 as stating, “President Welsh is a man of honor who has led Texas A&M with selfless dedication. We are grateful for his service and contributions. 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.”

UPDATE: The Texas A&M University system has a campus in Victoria. This news just broke after I wrote today’s piece, but before publishing it: “The Finalist for Texas A&M – Victoria President Has Extensive DEI History”

The finalist for president of Texas A&M-Victoria has pervasive experience with left-wing causes such as “diversity,” “equity,” and “sustainability.” Christian Hardigree was named the sole finalist for the presidency of Texas A&M-Victoria following a special called meeting of the Texas A&M System Board of Regents on September 18.

Texas Scorecard reviewed Hardigree’s official curriculum vitae and LinkedIn profile. Hardigree’s CV contains three references to “equity,” eleven references to “diversity” and nineteen references to “sustainability.”

Regent Chairman Bob Albritton called Hardigree “exactly the kind of leader who can help Texas A&M-Victoria thrive.”

Texas A&M needs an intervention. Governor Abbott needs to fire Chancellor Hegar, fire all the regents, and start over with a leadership that is not hostile to the values of a majority of Texans. If Governor Abbott will not cleanse the state’s universities of radical left-wing administrators, perhaps it’s time to start talking about Governor Brian Harrison taking on that challenge.

Embedded below is the series of tweets from Representative Harrison, including the audio of the Texas A&M student’s interaction with her professor and with President Welch.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

posted by Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

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