‘Hell, no’: Governor Abbott threatens Texas A&M president’s job after university sponsors trip to DEI conference

Texas Governor Greg Abbott was fired up on social media after Texas A&M University reportedly sponsored a trip to a conference that only accepted applications from students of certain racial identities—a violation of a new state law preventing participation in such events.

The situation started on Jan. 13, when Christopher Rufo, a conservative writer and activist, made a post on X.

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The post included a screenshot from an email from the Texas A&M mailbox promoting a conference promoting a postgraduate program. It also included a screenshot from the conference’s application, which includes a “Who can apply?” section that reads: “To be eligible for the annual conference, you must identify as Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic American, or Native American/Canadian Indigenous.”

According to the PhD Project website, the 2025 conference will take place on March 20-21. The application page is not viewable, as the window to apply has closed.

On the site, there didn’t appear to be any outward signs that the conference was only open to certain demographics. However, its “About Us” tab claimed that its goal was “diversifying corporate America by creating more role models in front of classrooms.”

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Rufo’s post was then quoted by Kurt Schlichter, a senior columnist for conservative website Townhall.com, who tagged both Gov. Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton, directly asking for a response to the university.

Gov. Abbott quoted that tweet, and he left no doubts about his stance on the issue, bluntly calling out Texas A&M President Mark Welsh III.

“Hell, no,” Abbott’s reply read. “It’s against Texas law and violates the US Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone.”

When he said, “against state law,” Abbott is referring to Texas Senate Bill 17, a bill signed in 2023 that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024. The bill says that universities cannot engage in various “diversity, equity and inclusion” activities that are deemed to exclude students from racial or cultural identities.

In response to Abbott’s threat, Texas A&M released a statement from Welsh.

In an additional statement that was sent out to staff and faculty at A&M’s Mays Business School, Welsh confirmed that A&M’s participation in the conference had been canceled:

“While the proper process for reviewing and approving attendance at such events was followed, I don’t believe we fully considered the spirit of our state law in making the initial decision to participate.

This particular conference’s limitations on the acceptable race of attendees is not in line with the intent of SB-17, and, as a result, we will not be sending anyone to participate in this conference.

Texas A&M faculty and staff attend hundreds, if not thousands, of conferences and other events during the course of each academic year. We need to be sure that attendance at those events is aligned with the very clear guidance we’ve been given by our governing bodies.”

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