Texas A&M President Mark A. Welsh III has tendered his resignation to the university, which will take effect as of 5 PM CT today, September 19, 2025. A statement from President Welsh is available below.
Mark A. Welsh III has released a statement regarding his resignation, which will be effective at 5 p.m. CT today. pic.twitter.com/IWG8B6ertd
— TexAgs (@TexAgs) September 19, 2025
Welsh's resignation comes on the heels of a dustup at the university related to an incident in a class that resulted in the firing of a gender studies professor. You can read about the incident and subsequent fallout at this link.
The fact that he is stepping down as president, whatever you may think of it with regard to what actually happened, could possibly end up having some ripple effects that play out in Aggie football and other sports.
How Mark Welsh's resignation from Texas A&M could affect Aggie athletics and Texas A&M football
One of the first things that broke in the A&M athletics sphere when word came down that Welsh intended upon stepping down was the effect that it would have on the contract of Texas A&M Athletic Director Trev Alberts. Reportedly, if Welsh is no longer involved with Texas A&M, it cuts Alberts' buyout amount by a full 50%.
As the above-linked post says, Alberts has repeatedly mentioned how big of a factor Welsh was in his own coming to the university. The Aggie AD has done a stellar job so far (though some blamed him for the Schlossnagle saga at first, he's much more well-thought-of by now), including landing a huge media rights deal for the university.
Additionally, Alberts is the man who hired Mike Elko, who appears to have the Aggie football team on an upward trajectory. Though I don't think Alberts was the key figure in Elko's decision to come home to College Station after his earlier DC stint here, the upheaval in leadership at the top— and directly above Elko if Alberts ends up leaving in the near future— can't be a positive thing.
Texas A&M needs to act quickly here to smooth things over, in other words, if they want to ensure that their programs have the stability needed to consistently compete for championships. The upheaval of the last few years in the Aggie administration has certainly been deleterious for those hopes— though it's not completely to blame, it hasn't helped.