Texas A&M President Mark Welsh announced on Tuesday that he directed the school’s provost to fire an English professor who pushed leftist ideas on gender and sex during a children’s literature course over the summer.
In a statement posted on social media and the university’s website, Welsh also announced that the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and the Head of the English Department would be removed from their administrative positions. The decision comes after videos, obtained and shared by Republican Texas State Rep. Brian Harrison and first reported by The Daily Wire, showed a student confronting Dr. Melissa McCoul over her comments on transgenderism and other LGBT issues during a lecture.
After the student complained about the LGBT themes in the children’s literature course, Welsh said that he worked with students and administrators to make changes and “ensure this course content does not continue in future semesters.” The president, however, stated that despite his directive, Texas A&M “continued to teach content that was inconsistent with the published course description for another course this fall.”
The video of the student’s interaction with the professor was posted on social media after Welsh met with students and administrators to discuss course descriptions and materials.
“This summer, a children’s literature course contained content that did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course,” said Welsh. “After this issue was raised, college and department leadership worked with students to offer alternative opportunities for students to complete the course, and made changes to ensure this course content does not continue in future semesters. At that time, I made it clear to our academic leadership that course content must match catalog descriptions for each and every one of our course sections.”
“However, I learned late yesterday that despite that directive, the college continued to teach content that was inconsistent with the published course description for another course this fall,” Welsh added. “As a result, I took the above administrative actions, and deans and department heads will conduct an audit of course offerings to ensure they align with the course descriptions.”
In one video, McCoul told the student who called her out that her teaching on transgenderism and other LGBT issues was “biologically true.” The professor then told the student that she had “the legal and ethical authority [and] professional expertise in this classroom” before telling the student, “It’s time for you to leave.”
????CAUGHT ON TAPE: TEXAS A&M STUDENT KICKED OUT OF CLASS AFTER OBJECTING TO TRANSGENDER INDOCTRINATION… and A&M President defends “LGBTQ Studies.”
I’m referring @TAMU to the Trump Administration for investigation… and asking Gov @GregAbbott_TX to fire the A&M officials… pic.twitter.com/J6IWsfw62I
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) September 8, 2025
Slides from the children’s literature class reviewed by The Daily Wire showed that the course material dedicated significant time to sex, gender, and “queerness,” covering the issues with a leftist slant. One 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 class also required students to read a comic book story titled “Princess Princess Ever After,” which is about two female characters who fall in love, with the book ending with a same-sex wedding.
“Childhood is the time for figuring out how to be a boy, girl, man, woman, or another gender.” pic.twitter.com/8XKrxAJq7f
— Brian Harrison (@brianeharrison) September 8, 2025
After Harrison’s social media post and The Daily Wire’s coverage, Harmeet Dhillon, the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, said that what was uncovered at Texas A&M “is deeply concerning,” adding that the DOJ’s Civil Rights division would “look into this.”
Harrison, who served as the chief of staff at the Department of Health and Human Services during Trump’s first term, continued to call for Welsh to be fired. On Wednesday, Harrison released more audio from a phone call between the Texas A&M president and the student who was told to leave class after challenging the LGBT teaching. During the call, Welsh told the student that she was “picking a fight,” and defended courses that focus on LGBT issues.
“President Welsh is engaged in a cover up and deserves no credit,” Harrison told The Daily Wire. “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.”