Former state Sen. Tommy Williams named interim Texas A&M president

COLLEGE STATION, Texas - Tommy Williams has been named interim president of Texas A&M University.

What we know:

Williams is a former state senator from The Woodlands and previously held the role of vice chancellor of governmental relations for the Texas A&M System.

Williams represented Southeast Texas in the Texas Senate from 2003 to 2013, where he chaired the Senate Finance Committee and played a key role in shaping the state’s budget and education policy. 

He later joined the A&M System in 2014 and served until his retirement in 2018. He also served as a senior advisor to Gov. Greg Abbott from 2017 to 2019.

"I’m honored to return to Texas A&M in this capacity," Williams said. "This university means a great deal to me, and I look forward to working with students, faculty, staff and former students to support the continued excellence of this great institution."

What's next:

Texas A&M System Board of Regents is still continuing its search for a permanent president.

What's been happening at Texas A&M?

The backstory:

Williams's appointment comes after Mark A. Welsh III stepped down following a tumultuous time at the university.

Welsh stepping down followed him demoting two university administrators for apparently allowing course content that was not consistent with class descriptions.

Welsh announced the demotions of "key leaders" in the university's College of Arts and Sciences, attributing them to misleading course descriptions and saying the school must keep its word and prevent students from being let down.

After the two administrators were demoted, a professor was terminated. Chancellor Hegar, in a statement, said the termination was due to the professor failing to align her course description with her actual course content.

Viral confrontation video

The demotions and firing followed a viral video showing a student confronting a professor over alleged LGBTQ content in a children's literature course.

The video, which doesn't identify any involved parties, appears to show a Texas A&M instructor defending such content.

Texas A&M course audit

Following the demotions and termination, the Board of Regents called for Chancellor Hegar to audit every course across the university system's campuses.

The Board says this is to ensure compliance with all applicable laws.

State lawmakers call for terminations

The viral video prompted state lawmakers to call for terminations.

Gov. Greg Abbott called for the firing of "the professor who acted contrary to Texas law" in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

State Rep. Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian), a former Aggie himself, didn't consider Abbott's stance aggressive enough, instead calling for Welsh himself to be fired.

Harrison has been a vocal opponent of LGBTQ coursework at Texas A&M.

Harrison also shared audio on X allegedly of a conversation between Welsh and a student, in which Welsh allegedly confirms Texas A&M has LGBTQ-related coursework.

In his post, Harrison says Welsh "even recommended creating a new ‘PROFESSIONAL TRACK FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT TO STUDY LGBTQ LITERATURE!’" and that he snapped back at the student, "THERE ARE LGBTQ COURSES HERE AND HAVE BEEN FOR A LONG TIME!"