Texas A&M president issues statement on Chalk Talk incident
By Andrew Olson
Published:
Texas A&M president Michael K. Young has issued a statement voicing his disappointment with the conduct of two Aggies assistant coaches in last week’s Chalk Talk women’s clinic.
“As you may know, presentations containing insensitive, disrespectful content were given by two coaches at a football ‘Chalk Talk for Women’ event hosted by the Athletic Department,” Young wrote in an open letter to the Texas A&M community. “Like many of you who learned of this, I was and remain dismayed, disappointed and angry. This behavior is not who we as Aggies are and is totally unacceptable. To be clear, this is not a females-only concern, but a human one.”
Offensive line coach Jim Turner and special teams coach Jeff Banks were suspended for two weeks without pay after attendees expressed outrage over the content of certain slides presented during the event, including an updated Aggie War Hymn and tips on “blocking” at the line of scrimmage.
Young said Texas A&M will take steps beyond suspending the coaches to prevent future incidents.
“The suspension of the two coaches involved, as well as other disciplinary measures taken, were made swiftly by Coach Sumlin. Of course, this is only a start. To that end, for example, the Athletic Department is engaged in ongoing education that will address this issue,” Young wrote.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
