The Texas A&M University System Board of Regents on Oct. 10 unanimously confirmed Florida higher education administrator Christian Hardigree as the first president of the system’s newly acquired Texas A&M University-Victoria.
The regents unanimously named Hardigree the sole finalist at a Sept. 18 meeting. State law required the board to wait 21 days before making the appointment official.
Previously, Hardigree was regional chancellor for the University of South Florida St. Petersburg and served as a founding administrator for two schools at universities in Colorado and Georgia. She holds a law degree from Mercer University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
“It is an incredible privilege to be chosen as president of Texas A&M University-Victoria,” Hardigree said in a statement. “This is a pivotal moment for the university, and I am inspired by its mission to advance academic excellence, foster student success, and serve as a catalyst for opportunity and economic growth across South Texas.”
Texas A&M administrators said Hardigree’s experience with building new programs gave them confidence in her ability to lead the Victoria campus.
“Texas A&M-Victoria is poised for tremendous growth, and Dr. Hardigree is the right leader to guide it there,” said Board of Regents Chair Robert L. Albritton. “Her passion for students and her track record of building programs that serve local needs will ensure the university continues to be a source of pride — and opportunity — for the Coastal Bend and beyond.”
However, Hardigree has come under fire from some conservative critics, such as state Rep. Brian Harrison, for language in her work history that references work around diversity and equity. Former Texas A&M president Mark A. Welsh III faced similar pushback during his tenure before he resigned last month.
“Critics who scour her CV for politically charged buzzwords miss the bigger picture: her life and career have been defined by service, accountability and results,” Chancellor Glenn Hegar said in an Oct. 1 post on X. “That’s the kind of leadership Texas A&M-Victoria needs.”
Hegar’s post came on the heels of an op-ed he penned in the Victoria Advocate the same day, where he said Hardigree had “the record of a patriot.”
“Hardigree is a lifelong conservative, a registered Republican and someone whose family embodies the kind of patriotic values South Texans hold dear,” Hegar wrote.
At a regents meeting on Oct. 3, Albritton pointed to the criticism other higher ed leaders have received for past work that relates to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, and how those programs are no longer present at Texas’ higher education institutions since state lawmakers banned them two years ago. He added that “back in DEI,” people needed to write diversity statements “if you wanted to get a job.”
The Legislature has cracked down on DEI initiatives in education in recent years. In 2023, legislators approved Senate Bill 17, which required universities to close their DEI offices, ban mandatory diversity training and restrict hiring departments from asking for diversity statements, essays in which job applicants talk about their commitment to building diverse campuses.
“Those days are gone,” Albritton told reporters at the Oct. 3 meeting. “But unfortunately, those [resumes] are still out there somewhere, on somebody’s internet, somebody’s social … and it has nothing to do with how they feel today and how they would teach today or how they would lead today.”
The Texas A&M system officially took over the Victoria campus from the University of Houston System in September after state lawmakers approved the transfer during the legislative session. James K. Nelson Jr. was named interim president of the campus as the board searched for a permanent candidate.
Lawmakers approved the transfer of campus operations in May after a previous effort failed in 2011. Supporters, including Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, who authored the bill that facilitated the transfer, said Texas A&M’s ability to offer better education options in engineering and agriculture made it more suitable to run the university.
The university is the 12th campus under the Texas A&M system and has roughly 3,500 students enrolled, according to the university website.
“This is a pivotal moment for the university, and I am inspired by its mission to advance academic excellence, foster student success and serve as a catalyst for opportunity and economic growth across South Texas,” Hardigree said in a statement in September. “I look forward to working with our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community partners to elevate the university’s visibility, strengthen its impact, and build a vibrant future together.”
Hardigree’s appointment is the most recent leadership change at the Texas A&M system in recent weeks. Welsh, Texas A&M University’s former president, announced his resignation on Sept. 18 amid the fallout from a viral video showing a student confronting a professor over a gender identity discussion in class. On Oct. 3, the regents named former state lawmaker Tommy Williams, a 1978 Texas A&M alum, as interim president while a search committee looks for a new president.
Albritton, the regents chair, said that search may be longer than usual, so they can “get it right.”
The board also appointed Christopher Maynard as the new president of Texas A&M International University in Laredo on Sept. 18 after its previous president, Pablo Arenaz, died in October. Maynard was named as the sole finalist for the position in August.
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