COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Texas A&M University Interim President Mark Welsh spoke with the media for the very first time Wednesday, making him the highest-ranking administrator at the university to speak with the public since several high-profile incidents have come out involving members of the university and the university system.
"It's really important for even great institutions to occasionally step back and take a real honest look in the mirror. I think that's where we are," Welsh said. "We're looking at these recent incidents. As soon as we get all the facts available to us, we need to make decisions on how we prevent getting into these situations in the future."
Despite not knowing the full picture of what happened in the failed hiring of the school's prospective journalism director because the situation is still under independent review, Welsh offered an apology to Dr. Kathleen McElroy on behalf of the university.
"I would hope everyone at Texas A&M would offer an apology to Dr. McElroy, and no matter what happened, this didn't go well," Welsh said." Dr McElroy by all accounts is an incredibly accomplished scholar. She's an incredible college journalist and she's a great Aggie from what I hear."
Welsh says the only way for the school to move in a positive direction is to communicate openly and transparently within the university system and with those who support it.
"I think anytime you get bad publicity, there are people who are going to attack you. It's just kind of the way of the world these days," Welsh said. "Let me tell you what these incidents have not done. They cannot undo the great work that's going on everywhere else at Texas A&M. It cannot replace our view of who we are as an institution."
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