A faculty no-confidence vote against the president of West Texas A&M University in Canyon is taking place less than a month after President Walter Wendler canceled an on-campus drag show.
Wendler is accused of running the public university based on his own personal beliefs.
In a letter to students, faculty and staff, Wendler wrote, “A harmless drag show? No such thing.” He compared drag to doing blackface.
Within a week, a student group and two of the group’s student leaders filed a First Amendment lawsuit against Wendler and also noted the cancelation violates a 2019 Texas campus free speech law signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Now faculty are weighing in.
The Texas Tribune quoted faculty organizers who accuse Wendler of “divisive misogynistic, homophobic and non-inclusive rhetoric that stands in stark contrast with the Core Values of the university.”
Wendler was removed from a previous position at Southern Illinois University Carbondale for “a communication breakdown with university leadership,” according to The Texas Tribune.
Faculty Senate President Ashley Pinkham, an associate professor of psychology in the West Texas A&M University Department of Psychology, Sociology and Social Work, said that the “Faculty Senate has taken the position that we have no confidence in the ability of President Walter Wendler to lead WT in a manner that enables our faculty, staff and administrators to educate and serve our students effectively.”
Voting began on Monday and is expected to continue until 5 p.m. Friday. The voting will take place using a hard-copy ballot “to ensure confidentiality, anonymity and protection from public records requests.” All full-time faculty and full-time professional librarians are eligible to vote.
“We do not take this step lightly,” the Faculty Senate stated in an email. “However, we believe that the mission to provide intellectually challenging, critically reflective, and inclusive academic programs at a well-respected, high-quality institution of higher education is at jeopardy. We believe we must take action now to restore the reputation of West Texas A&M University.”
Multiple reasons were explained why the vote should occur, claiming that Wendler has:
“Repeatedly and explicitly encouraged prospective students to not attend WT by arguing that it is ‘immoral, costly and cruel to mislead students’ into attending a four-year institution rather than a community college.”
“President Wendler has acted contrary to WT’s commitment to academic freedom and ‘champion[ing] the free exchange of ideas’ through prohibiting previously approved on-campus activities contrary to his personal worldview.”
“President Wendler has used university resources and his position as university president to govern based on personal religious ideology… in apparent violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment…”
“President Wendler has shown a pattern of divisive misogynistic, homophobic and non-inclusive rhetoric that stands in stark contrast to the Core Values of the university.”
“Resolved that the Faculty Senate of West Texas A&M University has no confidence in the ability of President Walter Wendler to lead WT in a manner that enables our faculty, staff and administrators to educate and serve our students effectively,” the resolution ends, “and be it further resolved that the Faculty Senate will welcome a new President who embraces West Texas A&M University’s commitment to providing a high-quality education, embraces the university’s mission to provide ‘intellectually challenging, critically reflective, regionally-responsive and inclusive academic programs,’ champions the university’s commitment to academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas, fosters a climate of mutual trust and respect, enriches the regional and national reputation of the university as a high-quality institution of higher education, and works to actively correct the issues identified in this resolution…”
Tags:
Regional