Universities aren't the lofty, inviolable, autonomous institutions of lore; they're generally immediately dependent on alignment to their local and state governments. The governor (Abbot) would have replaced the BoR, which could and would have fired Welsh for continuing to align with Biden-era policies.
Welsh had been if not "resistant" to the rollback of DEI language and initiatives, then tolerant of them, and there have been campus protests against the current presidency. If the POTUS asks a state governor why they can't keep their people in line, that's going to come down the chain quickly.
These types of signals are not mysterious and complex (although the reporting on these topics tends to be selectively awful), and we often overestimate the subtlety of the politics involved. If Abbot is aligned to his party and the presidency, then he is expected to show he can act if called upon to.
Reprimanding a few faculty and terminating one senior lecturer as proof is worth more than whatever their legal affairs team is going to come up with to get everyone to move on. And Welsh is 71. He's "stepping down" into retirement.
Welsh had been if not "resistant" to the rollback of DEI language and initiatives, then tolerant of them, and there have been campus protests against the current presidency. If the POTUS asks a state governor why they can't keep their people in line, that's going to come down the chain quickly.
These types of signals are not mysterious and complex (although the reporting on these topics tends to be selectively awful), and we often overestimate the subtlety of the politics involved. If Abbot is aligned to his party and the presidency, then he is expected to show he can act if called upon to.
Reprimanding a few faculty and terminating one senior lecturer as proof is worth more than whatever their legal affairs team is going to come up with to get everyone to move on. And Welsh is 71. He's "stepping down" into retirement.