A Texas A&M University appeals panel has unanimously ruled that the school was “not justified” when it fired a lecturer who had been accused of teaching a course that recognized more than two genders.
The decision does not guarantee that the lecturer, Melissa McCoul, will be reinstated. But the ruling puts pressure on the university’s administration as it decides a matter that put Texas A&M at the center of the nation’s rancorous debate about what can be taught in classrooms.
Dr. McCoul was teaching an English department course, “Literature for Children,” in College Station when a student filmed a depiction of a “gender unicorn,” which is used to explain the differences between gender expression and gender identity. A student in the class challenged the lesson, saying, “I’m not entirely sure this is legal to be teaching because, according to our president, there’s only two genders.”
After the student spoke a bit more, Dr. McCoul replied, “You are under a misconception that what I’m saying is illegal.”
But a video of the exchange, posted online by a state lawmaker, instigated an outcry, particularly among Republican politicians in Texas. The university soon fired Dr. McCoul and demoted some administrators. Not long after, Texas A&M said that its president, Mark Welsh, would step down.
Dr. McCoul appealed her firing to the university’s Committee on Academic Freedom, Responsibility and Tenure, which designated eight faculty members to hear the matter.
In a four-page decision, the committee’s chairman said that the panel had been “especially concerned by the lack of a rigorous investigation into the circumstances, details, specific events and timeline leading to Dr. McCoul’s summary dismissal.” The report also cited other misgivings about the university’s handling of the episode and repeatedly said that A&M “did not meet the burden of proof that Dr. McCoul’s summary dismissal was based on good cause.”
Texas A&M did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Dr. McCoul’s lawyer, Amanda L. Reichek, said the ousted instructor was “heartened” by the panel’s recommendation.
If Texas A&M’s administration does not accept the panel’s findings, Ms. Reichek warned, “Dr. McCoul intends to swiftly pursue her First Amendment, due process, and breach of contract claims in court.”
Word of the hearing panel’s decision, which was dated Tuesday, came just over a week after the university system’s regents voted to tighten the rules around what may be discussed in classrooms.
Under the new policy that regents approved unanimously, courses may not “advocate race or gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity” without a campus president’s approval of the course and related materials. The regents also approved a policy declaring that faculty members could not “teach material that is inconsistent with the approved syllabus for the course.”
The new policies infuriated many faculty members in the vast system, which includes a dozen universities and a health sciences center that enroll about 165,000 students in total.
Sam Torn, a regent who chairs the board’s Committee on Academic and Student Affairs, did not directly cite the furor around Dr. McCoul when he pressed for the policy changes, though he said it had recently “become clear” that some instructors were going beyond what administrators expected them to discuss in class.
“Curriculum is created and approved based on the accepted body of knowledge needed for our students to be successful in their chosen profession,” Mr. Torn said last week. “It is unacceptable for other material to be taught instead.”
Vimal Patel contributed reporting.
Alan Blinder is a national correspondent for The Times, covering education.
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