Texas A&M Chancellor Sharp comments on school controversies

Last week, Texas A&M University System Chanceller John Sharp issued an editorial that was distributed to numerous media outlets in which he addressed the alleged controversies surrounding a former journalism program hire and a pharmacy professor. Sharp began the piece by saying he kept quiet until an investigation into the matters involving Dr. Kathleen McElroy and Dr. Joy Alonzo reached its conclusion.

"“It is time to come together, put our house back in order, and vow to never let this happen again,” the chancellor wrote. “We all must rededicate ourselves to the Aggie values that define us and bind us.”"

According to a report issued by College Station CBS affiliate KBTX Channel 3 on August 4, the university initially hired McElroy, a 1981 TAMU graduate, from the University of Texas at Austin (UT) to helm its journalism program. Citing the school, Houston Daily reported on July 24 that McElroy’s hiring was botched as details of the job offer changed from “a position with the possibility of tenure to a one-year professor of practice appointment, with the option to renew.” The ordeal prompted then-president Dr. Katherine Banks, who claimed she didn’t know about the changes in the job offer but took responsibility for a “flawed hiring process,” to enter retirement.

Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Mark Welsh III, who led the Bush School of Government, is serving as interim president. KBTX reported that TAMU and McElroy had since reached a $1 million settlement. Per a report from Bryan College Station's The Eagle, an investigation determined that Alonzo, who was disciplined for her alleged remarks about Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in a guest lecture at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston earlier this year, didn’t mention Patrick’s but the lieutenant governor’s office.

The publication reported that Alonzo expressed satisfaction in the investigation’s findings. Sharp apologized to both women in his editorial..

“I want to apologize publicly to Dr. McElroy and fervently hope we can eventually heal with our mutual love for Texas A&M,” he said. “To Dr. Alonzo, I am sorry her name was bandied about in the news media four months after the university had cleared her of allegations she had criticized Lt. Governor Dan Patrick in a manner that at least one student found offensive.”

According to the chancellor, the public can read the system’s Office of General Counsel’s final reports online.