Austin, TX — Today, Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston) released the following statement relating to Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh’s resignation:

“The immediate resignation by Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh is now the 2nd in 2 years, which means Texas A&M will have its 3rd President in just three years.

The commonality in both these personnel driven situations of hiring or firing at an Aggie academic institution is that it is essential for the person in charge to have the same “story” at the beginning of the problem as at the end. The fact that students, faculty, staff, and the Board of Trustees, etc... all heard different versions of these stories’ “truth” is simply unsustainable in this modern, frothy social media driven environment.

“Consistency” should be the hallmark of campus leadership, not its bane.

Over the last two sessions, the Texas Legislature has made it clear statewide that DEI activities will not continue. Faculty Senates will now operate as advisory groups as they were originally intended to be. They’re not the Texas Senate and cannot write the rules of institutional governance, as the Board of Trustees has to do by law.

Therefore, it’s clear that the next leader of Texas A&M University’s flagship main campus must gather together all of our teaching and research assets this great Nationally Ranked University has, and help propel all of us forward into Texas A&M’s 150th year anniversary and beyond!

— Senator Paul Bettencourt ’80”

Senator Bettencourt serves as Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Civil Discourse and Freedom of Speech in Higher Education, a joint legislative committee, is a former Class Agent for the Class of ‘80, and holds the distinction of being the ranking Aggie Senator in the Texas Legislature.

###