Gov. Greg Abbott threatens Texas A&M president’s job over claim that university broke DEI ban

(The Texas Tribune) – Gov. Greg Abbott threatened Texas A&M University President Mark Welsh III’s job over claims the university broke the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.The threat came after conservative activist Christopher Rufo shared a university email inviting some staffers and PhD students to attend a conference that limited participation to people who are Black, Hispanic or Native American.Related Stories On Monday, someone asked Abbott and Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton on social media whether they were going to tolerate the behavior.“Hell, no,” Abbott replied hours later on X, formerly known as Twitter. “It’s against Texas law and violates the U.S. Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone.”The A&M email said the university system’s general counsel had confirmed that the conference complied with the state’s DEI ban.Senate Bill 17, which took effect last year, prohibits public universities not only from having DEI offices, but from compelling any person to provide a DEI statement or undergo DEI training and giving preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin.On Tuesday, Welsh released a statement that the university “will continue to honor both the letter and intent of the...