COLLEGE STATION, Texas, September 19th, 2025 - The Rudder Association (TRA), a group of dedicated Aggies committed to preserving and perpetuating the Core Values and unique spirit of Texas A&M fully supports the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents in their decision to seek new leadership for the Office of the President, Texas A&M University. 

​

We respect President Welsh’s long and distinguished history of public service and recognize that the university has undergone significant reforms in recent years. Under his administration, we made further strides with respect to restoring merit culture and public accountability.

 

Nearly two years ago we publicly questioned the appointment of then interim President Welsh to the permanent presidency. We were troubled by a pattern of actions and statements which were typical of a DEI ideology. We were also concerned that his views on institutional shared governance might not prioritize the citizens of Texas and Aggie students as the primary stakeholders on our flagship campus. Those original questions have persisted and in recent days only grown.

​

A student expressing legitimate concerns about the appropriateness and legality of transgender ideology being infused into the training of elementary school teachers was dismissed from the class and then treated dismissively by President Welsh. Our classrooms should be marketplaces of ideas, inquiry, and discourse. But they should not be instruments of authoritarian indoctrination.

 

While the removal of the professor and reassignment of the department head and dean for related systemic failures were appropriate responses, these seem to have been made by President Welsh only under duress. We did not have full confidence that his audit of other courses for similar hidden agendas would be sufficiently vigorous to restore stakeholder trust. 

​

We agreed with President Welsh on the importance of inculcating our students with the knowledge and skills needed to practice good citizenship. Yet to help lead this initiative, he elevated the architect of the scheme to hire an advocate of DEI and viewpoint discrimination to head our journalism department.

The past two years have also been some of the most tumultuous in the nearly 150-year history of the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets, which has now marched decisively away from the 3,000 member goal. We commend the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents for identifying and selecting promising new leadership for this critical institution.

​

Further, we were dismayed by his lack of response to the campus assassination of Charlie Kirk who we recently hosted on our campus to great acclaim. His voice was violently silenced for simply expressing mainstream conservative views which are intolerable to the illiberal left. He was a champion of free speech and civil discourse and was perhaps the most beloved figure on college campuses today. Our students are grieving this painful loss. Yet their president did not attend their vigils, did not reach out to affected students, and did not even condemn the heinous act.

Texas A&M University deserves a president who will uphold the standards expected by the Aggie family out of personal conviction rather than reactively under public pressure. We support the Chancellor and Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System in the process of identifying such a leader.

​

We are potentially at a turning point on our campuses and in our culture. Our universities should be places where timeless truths and new discoveries are illuminated through civil dialogue and empirical methods in the service of their stakeholders—not distorted in the service of any ideological agenda. A course correction in higher education is long overdue and Texas A&M is well positioned to lead in this moment. We have full confidence in our system leadership to identify such a leader as the next president of our beloved university.  

The President and Board of Directors

The Rudder Association