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Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh announced Monday that two individuals were removed from their positions after a video of a student and professor clashing over the teaching of content regarding gender identity in class went viral.
A video shows a woman in a children’s literature course challenging the professor bringing up gender identity in the classroom, arguing it was illegal for the professor to do so due to executive orders from President Trump over “gender ideology.”
The professor fired back, stating it was not illegal and eventually asking the student to leave the classroom.
The video garnered national attention, with calls for investigations from the state and federal government.
In response, Welsh announced the removal of the dean and department head that oversee that course from their positions. It is not clear if they will be employed in other capacities at the university.
“I learned this afternoon that key leaders in the College of Arts and Sciences approved plans to continue teaching course content that was not consistent with the course’s published description,” Welsh said.
“Our students use the published information in the course catalog to make important decisions about the courses they take in pursuit of their degrees. If we allow different course content to be taught from what is advertised, we let our students down. When it comes to our academic offerings, we must keep our word to our students and to the state of Texas,” he continued.
The video does not show the face of the student or professor, and it is not clear when the argument occurred.
The decision to remove individuals from their position seems to be a change in direction, according to The Texas Tribune, after another video showed a student meeting with the president and Welsh saying he would not fire the teacher.
Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said on the social media platform X the agency would look into the incident.