SAN ANTONIO – Kate Rogers doesn’t plan to go quietly.
Rogers filed a lawsuit in federal court after she alleged her First Amendment rights were violated and culminated in political pressure from state officials. That pressure led to Rogers’ resignation from her position as president of the Alamo Trust.
“It’s not really about getting my job back,” Rogers said. “It’s more importantly to shine a light on this. You know, I’m not the only person in this country that this type of thing is happening to.”
Watch the full interview below:
In a now-deleted post on X in October, The Alamo’s official account wrote a post recognizing indigenous people and their contributions to the historic site.
“Which was the exact same post which was posted one year ago without comment from anybody,” Rogers said.
Texas General Land Officer Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, though, did have something to say about it.
Buckingham, whose office oversees the Alamo, slammed the post saying, “Woke has no place at the Alamo.”
“Does that make a person woke?” Rogers asked. “If you’re at the Alamo, why wouldn’t you recognize the indigenous people who literally built the Alamo church? It was indigenous peoples’ hands who literally built the church.”
Then, Rogers said, she received a call from Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.
According to Rogers, Patrick told her, “I’ve gotten your dissertation. I’m going to need you to resign.”
Rogers wrote the dissertation in 2023.
According to the lawsuit, her work states, “I do not believe it is the role of politicians to determine what professional educators can or should teach in the classroom.”
Rogers additionally wrote, “I would love to see the Alamo become a beacon for historical reconciliation and be a place that brings people together versus tearing them apart, but politically that may not be possible at this time.”
Throughout numerous points during the project to enhance the visitor experience at the Alamo and expand the footprint that tells the history, interest groups have been at odds over who should be represented.
The effort to include the role of indigenous people, who came before the Alamo Defenders, has been a key part of the goal to create a museum and visitors center to further educate visitors.
It is a vision that Rogers said state leaders, including Patrick, ultimately signed off on.
“The men at the Alamo, I believe, were fighting for freedom,” Rogers said. “In our world today, I believe that one of our freedoms that is under threat is the freedom of thought and the freedom of expression, right? ‘If you don’t agree with me, then I will silence you.’”
“It doesn’t feel very Texan to me,” Rogers continued. “And it certainly doesn’t feel very American to me.”
Named in the lawsuit are the Alamo Trust, Inc., Remember The Alamo Foundation, Welcome Wilson, Jr., and Esperanza “Hope” Andrade, in addition to Patrick and Buckingham.
Andrade has since been named the new President and CEO of the Alamo Trust.
KSAT reached out to the others named in the lawsuit, which was filed on Nov. 17. Everyone, except for Patrick, declined comment.
Patrick has yet to respond to KSAT’s request for comment.
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