DEI conference gets A&M in hot water with governor [Video]

Texas A&M University announced Tuesday morning it has backed off a plan to send doctoral students to a conference in Chicago in an apparent violation of the state’s diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) ban after Gov. Greg Abbott threatened A&M President Mark A. Welsh III with his job in a Monday night post on social media.

A poster on X directed a message to Abbott stating, “Texas A&M is sponsoring a trip to a DEI conference that prohibits whites and Asians from attending. The university falsely claims that this use of taxpayer funds does not violate the state’s DEI ban. @TAMU is supporting racial segregation and breaking the law.”

The post included a portion of an email sent by professor Yong Chen inviting colleagues and advanced Ph.D. students if they were interested in attending the annual The PhD Project conference March 20-21 in Chicago.

Another attachment highlighted the conference requirement …