Texas A&M University president resigns after pushback over Black journalist's hiring

Texas A&M University announced Friday that its president has resigned after a Black journalist's celebrated hiring at one of the nation's largest campuses unraveled over pushback over her diversity and inclusion work.

President Katherine Banks said in a resignation letter that she would retire immediately, because "negative press has become a distraction" at the nearly 70,000-student campus in College Station.

Her exit comes as Republican lawmakers across the U.S. are targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campus. That includes Texas, where Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed a bill in June that dismantles program offices at public colleges.