During the July 19 Texas A&M faculty senate meeting, President M. Katherine Banks strongly denied revising or revoking Kathleen McElroy’s tenure offer, contradicting reporting by The Texas Tribune that has been disseminated throughout national and local media.
Banks said she was looking forward to McElroy’s arrival, and that there was no outside force convincing A&M administration to turn away McElroy, and that McElroy rejecting the university’s offer came as a surprise to her office.
“We were excited about her coming,” Banks said. “In fact, we scheduled a workshop on the vision of the journalism program for August with the assumption that she would be here.”
In response to an anonymous question asking how accurate the Texas Tribune article was, Banks said that only a single offer had been made by A&M to McElroy. The offer, still valid, according to Banks, contained tenure pending approval from the Board of Regents.
“Dr. McElroy received an offer for tenure upon arrival by the university,” Banks said. “She came to campus, she signed that agreement. That agreement has not been revoked. That agreement is still in place. At this point, I think it’s important to remember that there was no change in that offer. She could have accepted that offer at any time.”
Banks claimed that any additional offers made to McElroy would have been made outside of the president’s office.
“The [Texas Tribune] said that there was a five-year [non-tenure] offer made [after the initial offer],” Banks said. “We cannot find any documentation that there was a five-year offer made.”
Regarding what might have given McElroy the impression that an offer was revoked, Banks said she wasn’t sure.
“I have no idea,” Banks said. “That was never my understanding or anyone else in my office. I was not in any of these conversations. Certainly, if I had been asked by her, or others … we assumed that offer was valid and that she would show up Aug. 1.”
Banks said she was deeply disappointed McElroy rejected the offer.
“Quite frankly, I really wish with all my heart I’d have the opportunity to talk with [McElroy] before she made the decision that she made,” Banks said. “I didn’t. I believe if I perhaps had a little warning before I would have called her directly and talked with her about her concerns, and I’m just sad that I didn’t have the opportunity to do so, because I believe we lost a very, very good hire.”
Faculty senators present at the meeting reacted to Banks’ claims with confusion. Rajesh Miranda, senator for the College of Medicine, said he was puzzled as to why there was such a large gulf between the president’s office and McElroy’s perceptions of the terms of the offers.
“Dr. Banks and [Vice President of Faculty Affairs] Dr. [N.K.] Anand, after listening to that, I have come away feeling a little more confused than I did at the beginning,” Miranda said. “It just seems inconceivable that there has not been an opportunity to just get together with [McElroy] and talk frankly with her.”
Senator for the College of Engineering Raymundo Arroyave said he was skeptical of Banks’s claims.
“It doesn’t make sense to me,” Arroyave said. “None of us can diagram what actually happened. I don’t know who’s at fault or where the offer came from. There’s so many questions that I have, and I don’t think [Banks and Anand] were credible, given the explanations that they had … even within the department, they never miss the status of an offer or a letter. The fact that they missed the boat … stretches my ability to believe in them.”
Senator for the College of Engineering Jorge Alvarado said Banks and Anand failed to take adequate responsibility for the situation.
“I’m surprised that today, our president and our vice president basically made excuses,” Alvarado said. “Saying the letter didn’t make it from point A to point B, and so on.”
Dana Gaddy, senator for the School of Veterinary Medicine, said the administration’s opacity and apparent obliviousness regarding the McElroy hiring during the meeting was shameful.
“It’s plausible deniability for them, to stand up here to us and say, ‘I’m sorry, we don’t know, we thought everything was going to move forward as planned,’” Gaddy said. “I am insulted … I am an alumnus of this place, I am a faculty member here and I love this place. I am ashamed to wear my ring.”
Secretary of the faculty senate Andrew Klein said several members of the senate were concerned about the potential influence of The Rudder Association.
“Can Dr. Banks confirm that she has not met with [The Rudder Association]?” Klein said. “Can she tell what conversations she has had with them since this issue has arisen?”
“I have not met with [The Rudder Association],” Banks said. “I’m surprised they would even state that, given that I haven’t.”
A faculty senator later cited a March 2022 article by The Battalion that claimed Banks met monthly with The Rudder Association board members, contradicting her earlier statement.
A resolution calling on the president, chancellor and Board of Regents to “make clear public statements that emphasize outside interference in faculty matters is not acceptable” passed with 55 votes for and five votes against.
