Editor’s Note: Amid fanfare, Kathleen McElroy was named last summer to lead a new journalism program at Texas A&M University—an offer that was watered down and finally rejected after regents, who are political appointees, objected to McElroy’s credentials, which included 20 years at The New York Times and participation in diversity initiatives. Ensuing controversy and public debate over whether racism or sexism played a role in the university’s treatment of McElroy, a Black woman, thrust her into the news, resulting in an investigation, a legal settlement, and a widely reported formal apology. Read our full account of McElroy’s ordeal here.
Be careful what you wish for.
I am a native Houstonian who loved listening to the Astros on the radio and was inspired by watching Billie Jean King play tennis in the famed Astrodome, where she beat self-proclaimed male chauvinist Bobby Riggs in my hometown. I wanted to play, but it was a good thing I decided I wanted to be a journalist like my dad—it turns out I have zero athletic ability, especially in my beloved sport of tennis.
