HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� A Texas A&M University professor who after a controversy over a classroom video that showed a student objecting to a children鈥檚 literature lesson about gender identity sued the school on Wednesday, alleging the university violated her rights by bowing to political pressure calling for her ouster.
Melissa McCoul was a senior lecturer in the English department with over a decade of teaching experience. Republican lawmakers, including Gov. , had called for her termination after seeing the video, which showed a student questioning whether the class discussion last July was legal under President Donald Trump鈥檚 executive order on gender.
The video roiled the campus and led to sharp criticism of university president Mark Welsh, who , but didn鈥檛 offer a reason and never mentioned the video in his resignation announcement.
The university upheld McCoul’s firing even after two separate, independent university groups determined Texas A&M violated her right to due process and did not have cause to terminate her employment.
鈥淭oday I did something that would have been inconceivable a year ago 鈥� I鈥檝e sued Texas A&M to hold it accountable for violations of my Constitutional rights to free speech and due process of law. There鈥檚 no satisfaction in doing this, only sadness,鈥� McCoul said in a statement. The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Houston.
Chris Bryan, the vice chancellor for marketing and communications for the Texas A&M University System, said Wednesday that school officials are aware of the lawsuit but have not reviewed it.
鈥淎s this is pending litigation, we will not comment further, but we intend to vigorously defend against the claims,鈥� Bryan said in a statement.
Named in the lawsuit as defendants were Welsh, Interim President Tommy Williams, Texas A&M University System Chancellor Glenn Hegar and the Texas A&M System鈥檚 Board of Regents.
After McCoul鈥檚 firing, Hegar ordered an audit of courses at all 12 schools in the system.
McCoul鈥檚 lawsuit comes less than a week after Texas A&M University announced it is , changing the syllabuses of hundreds of courses and canceling six classes as part of that limits how professors can discuss some race and gender topics.
Other university systems in Texas have also placed restrictions on classroom instruction or have begun internal reviews of course offerings following a new state law.
In her lawsuit, McCoul pushed back on claims by Texas A&M officials that she failed to follow instructions to change her course content to align with the course catalog description. McCoul said her course content was “100 percent aligned with the catalog description, course description.鈥�
鈥淭he explanations offered for Dr. McCoul鈥檚 termination are inconsistent and nonsensical because they are untrue. Dr. McCoul was terminated because of the so-called 鈥榣iberal,鈥� 鈥榳oke鈥� themes she explored in her courses,鈥� according to the lawsuit.
McCoul described teaching at Texas A&M as her 鈥渄ream job.鈥� She had been at the university since 2017. In her lawsuit, she is seeking reinstatement and monetary damages.
鈥淒espite how I was treated, I still love the institution, my former colleagues, and the students of A&M. I hope that this lawsuit will cause the University to think twice about treating others similarly,鈥� McCoul said.
__
Follow Juan A. Lozano:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
