A Texas A&M University professor has been terminated after video surfaced showing her removing a student from a lecture hall when the student objected to the inclusion of gender ideology in a children’s literature course.

Governor Greg Abbott confirmed the dismissal in a post on X, writing, “The professor has now been fired.”

The incident began when a student interrupted the lecture of Professor Melissa McCoul to object to material she said conflicted with executive orders from President Donald Trump and with her religious beliefs.

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“This also goes against, not only myself, but a lot of people’s religious beliefs,” the student said in the video.

“And so I am not going to participate in this because it’s not legal.”

In response, McCoul told the student, “I do have the legal and ethical authority [and] professional expertise in this classroom,” before ordering her to leave.

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The confrontation prompted Texas A&M University President Mark A. Welsh III to issue a formal statement on the matter.

Welsh explained that the dispute followed earlier concerns this summer about course material that he said did not match the expectations for a children’s literature class.

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“This summer, a children’s literature course contained content that did not align with any reasonable expectation of standard curriculum for the course,” Welsh said.

“After this issue was raised, college and department leadership worked with students to offer alternative opportunities for students to complete the course, and made changes to ensure this course content does not continue in future semesters. At that time, I made it clear to our academic leadership that course content must match catalog descriptions for each and every one of our course sections.”

Welsh went on to explain that despite his directive, a separate course in the fall again included content inconsistent with the published description.

“However, I learned late yesterday that despite that directive, the college continued to teach content that was inconsistent with the published course description for another course this fall,” Welsh said.


As a result, he directed the Provost to remove both the College of Arts and Sciences Dean and the English Department Head from their administrative positions.

“This afternoon, following full consideration of the facts related to this situation, I directed the Provost to terminate the professor involved, effective immediately. Please understand that these decisions were mine alone and were not made lightly,” Welsh concluded.

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The dismissal of McCoul follows a broader review of course content at the university, which administrators said must align with catalog standards.

The case has drawn widespread attention because of the student’s reference to both religious objections and federal directives.

The university has not released additional details about who will take over McCoul’s courses or what measures will be put in place to prevent similar disputes in the future.

For now, Texas A&M leadership has reiterated that faculty must ensure all course material remains consistent with catalog descriptions.

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