M. Katherine Banks, vice chancellor for engineering and national laboratories for the Texas A&M University System, was named the sole finalist to be president of Texas A&M in March 2021. Courtesy of Texas A&M Engineering
德克萨斯农工大学（Texas A&M University）校长M. 凯瑟琳·班克斯（M. Katherine Banks）在周四晚上向A&M系统总裁约翰·夏普（John Sharp）发出的信中宣布辞职。这一决定是在经历了一周的混乱之后做出的，原因是该校在聘请一位黑人记者来重振学校新闻系时出现了错误。班克斯的辞职立即生效，布什政府与公共服务学院院长马克·威尔什三世（Mark A. Welsh III）将担任代理校长，直至董事会任命临时校长。
“最近有关凯瑟琳·麦克尔罗伊博士的挑战让我认识到我必须立即退休。负面的报道让人对这里正在进行的出色工作分心，”班克斯写道。
在她两年的任期内，班克斯经常面临来自教职员工和学生的反对，他们持续提出对她的领导风格和工作进展的担忧。教职员工领袖已通过决议要求在大学决策中有更多的参与，而大学研究领导者质疑行政部门的决策。例如，班克斯的行政部门不得不撤回取消大学学生报纸《The Battalion》纸质出版的决定。在班克斯的领导下，行政部门还削减了年度校园脱衣舞表演《Draggieland》的资金和赞助，引起学生的抗议。
导致班克斯辞职的最新争议是因为校园内的一项决议。周三，大学的教职员工议会通过了成立一个调查委员会，对麦克尔罗伊的聘用问题进行调查，她是一位经验丰富的新闻教授，目前在德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校工作，并曾在《纽约时报》担任编辑。在那次会议上，班克斯告知教职员工，她否认在录用信上做出任何更改，而这导致潜在的新闻教授因保守派的反对而退出了谈判。但班克斯承认在聘用过程中出现了问题。
“这封录用信...确实让人明白他们不希望我在那里，”麦克尔罗伊上周在谈到这份一年合同时说。“但是我绝不会因为一个强调你可以随时被解雇的一年合同而放弃在德克萨斯大学的终身职位。”
班克斯辞职之前，斯坦福大学校长马克·特西埃-拉维涅（Marc Tessier-Lavigne）因其研究中存在缺陷而辞职，西北大学橄榄球教练帕特·菲茨杰拉德（Pat Fitzgerald）因团队内的辱骂和种族主义指控被解雇。
Texas A&M's M. Katherine Banks Resigns As University President
Texas A&M University president M. Katherine Banks announced her resignation in a letter sent to A&M System Chancellor John Sharp Thursday evening. This statement followed a week of turmoil over the botched hiring of a Black journalist to revive the university’s journalism department. Banks’ resignation is effective immediately. Mark A. Welsh III, dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service, will serve as acting president until the Board of Regents names an interim president.
“The recent challenges regarding Dr. [Kathleen] McElroy have made it clear to me that I must retire immediately. The negative press is a distraction from the wonderful work being done here,” Banks wrote.
During her two-year tenure, Banks often faced pushback from faculty and students who consistently raised concerns with her leadership style and progress. Faculty leaders have passed resolutions calling for more involvement in university decisions, and university research leaders questioned administration’s decision-making. For instance, Banks’ administration was forced to walk back the decision to eliminate print publication of the university’s student newspaper, The Battalion. Under Banks’ leadership, the administration also cut funding and sponsorship of an annual campus drag show, know as Draggieland, causing pushback from students.
The latest controversy on campus that directly led to Banks’ resignation occurred after the university’s faculty senate passed a resolution Wednesday to form a fact-finding committee into the mishandling of the hiring of McElroy, an experienced journalism professor currently working at the University of Texas at Austin who previously worked as an editor at the New York Times. During that meeting, Banks informed faculty members that she denies any changes to an offer letter that caused the prospective journalism professor to walk away from negotiations amid conservative backlash to her hiring. However, Banks did take responsibility for the flawed hiring process.
“This offer letter ... really makes it clear that they don’t want me there,” McElroy said last week about the one-year contract. “But in no shape, form or fashion would I give up a tenured position at UT for a one-year contract that emphasizes that you can be let go at any point.”
Banks’ resignation comes after Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne's resignation following flaws in his research and Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald’s firing after hazing and racist allegations within the team.
