GreatApezJul 21, 2023
Jay Rosen

Amazing story. Have you followed it?

Texas A&M announces a new journalism dean. She's black and she's qualified— and an alum of the school! Ex-New York Times too.

They announce her appointment in a splashy event.

Dark forces of reaction mobilize.

The offer is watered down to one year, with no tenure. She says no way, and withdraws. National news is made. It's negative. And today, the president of A&M resigns!

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/21/tamu-president-resign-journalism/

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/11/texas-a-m-kathleen-mcelroy-journalism/

#journalism #uspol #science

Texas A&M President Katherine Banks resigns amid fallout from failed hiring of journalism professor

“The recent challenges regarding Dr. McElroy have made it clear to me that I must retire immediately,” Banks wrote in her resignation letter. “The negative press is a distraction from the wonderful work being done here.”

The Texas Tribune
Jul 21, 2023 at 5:47pmWeb
Show threadJay RosenJul 22, 2023

An even more incredible turn in the Texas A&M story, after the president of the University resigned July 20.

The current chair of the journalism department, who recruited Dr. McElroy, released a statement accusing the former president of rank duplicity.

More serious: he says someone altered the draft offer letter to reduce the McElroy appointment from five years to one, without telling him.

It's his signature on the letter.

Read his statement:

#journalism #uspol #texas #science

Show threadpowersoffourJul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu This is stunning -- and it seems unusually direct. At face value, it makes yesterday's resignation much clearer.
Show threadDavid FyhrieJul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

Texas. Another state without a "quiet part?"

Show thread🐀 ␆Jul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu A technical observation - one would think that a key requirement of an electronic signature mechanism is that post-facto modification of that which was signed is made extremely obvious, and that the signature is revoked.
Show threadJay RosenJul 22, 2023

@walshman23

Now that you say that, I realize I should have worded my post more carefully. I don't know that he signed the draft; rather he was the signatory.

Show threadBrendan HalpinJul 22, 2023
@walshman23 @jayrosen_nyu Many so-called digital sigs are digital sigs in the same way a photocopy of a coin is paper money
Show threadcohomology is FUN!Jul 22, 2023
@walshman23 @jayrosen_nyu I think “electronic signature” is being (mis)used here to mean “image of the person’s handwritten signature”.
Show threadlaurent ogetJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu the damage this is causing to the state of Texas is considerable. Abbott at work.
Show threadAdam (He/Him/Ally)Jul 22, 2023
@laurentoget @jayrosen_nyu sorry, I feel that's overstatement and possible misattribution to Abbott. TAMU had a reputation for these wrong-headed ideas over a century earlier, hence Aggie jokes as a popular genre. Abbott hasn't earned the right to be an enduring symbol for Tejas, not like Anne Richards. My favorite quote from a #GOTV call is "I'd rather vote for a jar of mayonnaise than Greg Abbott." That's #TX.
Show threadlaurent ogetJul 22, 2023

@slouchking @jayrosen_nyu

my impression is that this dumpster fire is the board of regents, all abbott creatures, going over the head of the president and making it impossible for her to keep doing her job, and throwing TAMU into chaos. This is going beyond aggies being a bit backward.

Show threadAdam (He/Him/Ally)Jul 22, 2023
@laurentoget @jayrosen_nyu yes and no. The Board of Regents, Chancellor and President are a mixed bag in the political spectrum. Chancellor Sharp worked with Ann Richards. According to the Battalion, you might to look more closely at the Rudder Association and Dan Patrick who promoted 4 regents to the board based on their anti-CRT views, among other things. The Rudder Assoc stated purpose is to "put the #Aggie back in Aggieland." https://www.thebatt.com/news/the-rudder-association-a-deep-dive-into-the-conservative-former-student-group-with-plans-to/article_ee9f31ec-9dae-11ec-a4cc-efe4856b436c.html
Show threadlaurent ogetJul 22, 2023

@slouchking @jayrosen_nyu

i admit i do not differentiate much between the abbot branch and the patrick branch of TX republicans - so you are probably right and i was using Abbott as a label for all texan culture warriors

Show threadAdam (He/Him/Ally)Jul 22, 2023
@laurentoget @jayrosen_nyu #TX is a more complicated place than national news frames it. Either way, it's fascinating to unfold this particular controversy. News that the Dept Chairs signature was forged on the downgraded offer letter makes me think more heads will roll. The Rudder Association needs to be investigated for the threat it represents for open learning.
Show threadLoukas (They/Them) 🏳️‍⚧️Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu good to see someone with a backbone
Show threadGretchen AndersonJul 21, 2023
@Loukas @jayrosen_nyu I guess. I wish she’d stayed and fought, but I suppose that’s naive
Show threadyour auntifa liza 🇵🇷 🦛 🦦Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu this has to be a very coordinated and well funded effort. there was a similar case in Florida. there's the case of the NYT lead editor of the 1619 project. news orgs need to go hard on following the money.
Show threadPhilip NelsonJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu sooo many reasons to stay far away from tx
Show threadarclightJul 22, 2023
@panmanphil @jayrosen_nyu Even more reasons to help Texans fight Abbott and his pack of misogynist white supremacists.
Show threadDavid Hull 胡大衛Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Texas trying to out Florida Florida again.
Show threadLot⁴⁹Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Just amazing. Culture war claims another casualty, although it's hard to see Banks as a victim.
Show threadBill LambJul 21, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

THE MESSAGE: Don't even think of coming to Texas if you're connected in any way to the New York Times. Or you're black. Or, Heaven forbid, you're both.

#Texas is following #Florida's path to Hell.

Show threadaburtchJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu I'm sure you followed what UNC-Chapel Hill did to Nikole Hannah-Jones! Almost identical.
Show threadJay RosenJul 21, 2023

@aburtch

Indeed I did.

Show threadCarl SetzerJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu @aburtch yeah, this was very familiar
Show threadKeith Nowak 🌮Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu My alma mater seems determined to embarrass all of its former students
Show threadzillaJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Texas has become so far right wing that even Apartheid would be shocked.
Show threadErinJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu bigots and racists will always be eager to slice their own faces off to spite their nose. Smh
Show threadMorganaJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu What is the matter with Texas!! They join us in 2023…. Then abandon us for 1950…… Cowards!!!’
Show threadGreg StolzeJul 21, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu I contemplate how much unbridled JOY the right takes when they annoy or offend -- see "owning the libs" -- and wonder how much progress could be made if we just accepted a 5%, homeopathic dose of it.

"Oh! Some people are Rilly Upset™️ that you hired a Black woman!"
"Are they? Neat!"

Show threadjimrayJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu and based on my reading, she resigns over the reactionary blowback NOT the racist, misogynistic mistreatment of McElroy.
Show threadOnceoday 🩺🕊🏕Jul 22, 2023
@jimray @jayrosen_nyu A classic case of, "I'm sorry you took offense at my actions" instead of, "I'm sorry for the wrong I did."
Show threadPamela Barroway – Biz EditorJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Whoa. The whole story is a jaw-dropping clusterf*ck.
Show threadtimzl 🍔Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu if it can happen to Dr. Seuss it can happen to anyone!!
Show threadrockybandit 🥊Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu shameful
Show threadTristan LouisJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu sounds like a replay of what happened at UNC school of journalism
Show threadBrian DearJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Forget it Jay, it's Texas. :-/
Show threadJuggling With EggsJul 21, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu as someone from across the pond, I just can’t comprehend this story. But why world anyone wanting to study journalism apply to an institution that perceived the New York Times to be akin to Pravda?

If you’re trying to rebuild a uni journalism department shut for almost 20yrs who would want to be associated with them after this story?

Assume it will be left for a young white, male whipper snapper who works on a tabloid newspaper to take up the journalism role?

Show threadAdlangxJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Texas burning their University system to the ground? Shocking.
Show threadrēd ⭐Jul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Probably one of the best TLDRs I've ever seen!
Show threadeffinbanjosJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu is this cancel culture?
Show threadMarc, Antifa Surgeon GeneralJul 21, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu When I was an undergrad at Rice in the 90s, the Corps at A&M felt fascist-adjacent, very militaristic. Sad to see that the school is regressing to that sort of ideology in even more concrete ways now. If I were choosing where to get an education these days, red state colleges and universities would be an automatic no.

I do have a ton of respect for the people trying to resist and make change from within. I don't even feel comfortable visiting my family in Arkansas anymore.

Show threadErnie SmithJul 21, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu what a GD mess.
Show threadThe Evil MicrowizardJul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu 😳🤯
Show threadErebusJul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu See the followup: “Race was a factor in Black professor’s failed hiring, Texas A&M department head says”. I have a strong suspicion that the former president did exactly what the board of regents and the conservative alumni groups wanted. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/21/banks-tamu-journalism-hire/
#Texasiscancer
Race was a factor in Black professor’s failed hiring, Texas A&M department head says

Hart Blanton, the head of the university’s department of communications and journalism, also said then-President M. Katherine Banks interfered with the recruitment of journalist Kathleen McElroy.

The Texas Tribune
Show threadDennis1212Jul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Texas is being held hostage by the bitter, wealthy conservatives.
Show threadrhizomeJul 22, 2023
@Dennis1212
Under what threat of harm?
@jayrosen_nyu
Show threadJackie GardinaJul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu I recently spoke to Dr. Peniel Jospeh, a UT Austin professor and author of the Third Reconstruction: America’s Struggle to Achieve Racial Justice in the 21st Century, about whether he thought about leaving Texas as a result of the #DEI pushback. He said “Texas is ground zero” for his work. I admire that.

https://legaltalknetwork.com/podcasts/sidebar/2023/07/has-america-abandoned-the-promise-of-a-multi-racial-democracy-with-dr-peniel-joseph/

Has America Abandoned the Promise of a Multi-Racial Democracy? with Dr. Peniel Joseph - Legal Talk Network

After 200 years of racial and ethnic struggle, including the Civil War, Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Era, and Black Lives Matter, where are we now in

Legal Talk Network
Show threadJulesceltJul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu The US is bullied to death. A small percentage of people scream the loudest and everyone gives them what they want.

Let the toddlers scream. Walk away and ignore them. That's how we get over the terrible 2's.

Show threadShane PinnellJul 23, 2023
@julescelt01 @jayrosen_nyu unfortunately, the screaming toddlers are, or are empowered by, the 1%.
Show threadjohn r red-horseJul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

Chapeau to Ms Banks!

Show threadMxhradJul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

At this point, no one should be taking a job in Texas, Florida or any other bigoted state.

Show threadPeter PrincipleJul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

"Dark forces of reaction mobilize."

Dark forces of reaction don't need to mobilize in Texas. They're permanently at Defcon 1.

Show threadTammy Garrison, MLISJul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu this is the same person who took tenure and faculty status away from all A&M librarians. Good riddance.
Show threadAdam (He/Him/Ally)Jul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu not to sound like it sounds, but what notable journalism came out of TAMU's alumni? What did they possibly have to lose by letting Prof. McElroy, Ph.D, retired NYTimes editor, and simultaneous alumni of the Bryan-College paper, possibly the only one on earth to do both, try to work some magic?
Show threadCatmama 🐈Jul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

Yes, I've been following the story. The only thing that surprises me is there is actually blowback and it came quickly.

Show threadScott GrimmettJul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Speaking as a white person, it feels personally discouraging to see another white person - president of a university, no less - prove that white people are still too damn stupid to be part of the solution.
Show threadEric PetersenJul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Haven’t you heard Aggie jokes before? Common in the military, and enjoyed and told by A&M officers about how dumb Aggies are?
Show threadCanadian CurmudgeonJul 22, 2023
@jayrosen_nyu Interesting story, thanks. Not surprised that MAGA Repugnicans lost their soothers over a qualified black woman getting the job, especially in Texas. It's a Talibangelist state, like Florida.
Show threadsOlOw-NHJul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

Great to see the wheels of systemic rascism are well greased