Behind the lines of Texas A&M’s diversity war

The July email to Texas A&M University instructors caught many by surprise.

The university would drop a required lesson on “respect & inclusion” from a semester-long program open to all first-year students, according to the email. This was necessary, an official wrote, in light of a new state law that bans, in part, mandatory diversity training. In its place, A&M would add a lesson on mental health.

The email from the university’s first-year experience office was met with faculty pushback. Within hours, A&M walked back its directive; a vice provost...