Texas Gov. Greg Abbott threatened Texas A&M President Mark Welsh III to explain a university conference that excluded whites and Asians from attending or he would be fired.
"Texas A&M is sponsoring a trip to a DEI conference that prohibits whites and Asians from attending," conservative activist Christopher Rufu shared an email Monday on his social media. "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."
In the email titled "Repressing Mays at the PhD Project Conference," the authors wrote, "Who can apply?: To be eligible for the annual conference you must: identify as Black/African American, Latinx/Hispanic, or Native American/Canadian Indigenous."
"Hell, no," Abbott replied on X. "It's against Texas law and violates the U.S. Constitution. It will be fixed immediately or the president will soon be gone."
Abbott was responding to a post from Townhall.com columnist Kurt Schlichter who asked "Hey @GregAbott_TX @KenPaxtonTX – is my newly adopted state gonna put up with this crap?"
Welsh released a statement Tuesday arguing the conference in question complied with Senate Bill 17, which 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.
"Texas A&M does not support any organization, conference, process, or activity that excludes people based on race, creed, gender, age, or any other discriminating factor – the intent of SB-17 is very clear in that regard," Welsh's statement read.