Mastodawn

Jay Rosen Jul 21, 2023

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

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Jay Rosen Jul 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

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blinkenjim Jul 22, 2023

@jayrosen_nyu

The fourth bullet is impossible, at least if taken at face value.

An electronic signature doesn't just confirm who signed the document, but also that the document hasn't been altered since the signature was applied. A signature on a since-altered document would fail verification.

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blinkenjim

@jayrosen_nyu

Though here's an interesting wrinkle on that: if the document was altered and not re-signed, then the copy in Dr McElroy's possession could be used to *prove* that it had been altered. That would be clear evidence of the malfeasance.