Former Alamo Trust CEO, Kate Rogers, says Texas leaders crossed a First Amendment line when they forced her out. Now, she’s fighting back in federal court.
SAN ANTONIO — Former Alamo Trust President and CEO Kate Rogers says Texas’s top leaders pushed her out of her job over opinions she shared as a private citizen — and now she’s taking them to federal court.
Rogers, who led the Alamo project for four and a half years, filed a lawsuit accusing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, the Alamo Trust, the Remember the Alamo Foundation, and board leaders Welcome Wilson Jr. and Hope Andrade of violating her First Amendment rights. The lawsuit bluntly states: “Defendants say they are supporters of free speech, but their actions say differently.”
Rogers gave KENS 5 an exclusive interview to share her side of the story — her first detailed account since the lawsuit was filed.
Rogers was hired in 2021 at a pivotal moment for the $400 million Comprehensive Alamo Plan — an effort to preserve the historic structures, recapture the original mission footprint and build a world-class museum telling the site’s full history. According to the lawsuit, her “experience as a diplomat” was “critically needed to bring the Alamo plan to fruition,” particularly as she navigated a politically volatile environment “filled with impassioned people on both sides.”
She reported directly to Patrick and Buckingham — the two state leaders who oversee the Alamo. She met weekly with Buckingham. Patrick controlled the funding Rogers helped secure. She said she tried to hold the middle ground.
“I was called a racist and a woke person in the same day,” Rogers told us. “My job was to walk the middle and hold the line.”
The chain of events outlined in the lawsuit began in early October, when the Alamo posted its routine Indigenous Peoples Day message alongside a Columbus Day post. Rogers said the same Indigenous Peoples Day content had been posted in previous years without controversy. But this time, Buckingham blasted the post on social media, calling it “woke” and “unacceptable.” The post was removed, and the communications director was fired.
Rogers offered to resign over the incident, but she said the Alamo Trust board refused to consider it. A week later, everything changed.
On Oct. 22, while preparing to speak at a reception honoring former San Antonio assistant city manager Lori Houston, Rogers said she stepped outside to return several missed calls from Patrick. He told her someone had sent him her 2023 doctoral dissertation — research completed at USC in her personal capacity, focusing on how historic sites like Monticello, Gettysburg and the WWII Museum support social studies instruction. It was not about the Alamo.
Patrick focused on two lines: one saying politicians shouldn’t dictate what teachers teach, and another expressing her personal hope that the Alamo could one day become a “beacon for historical reconciliation.” Rogers said these were academic reflections, not directives, and they were never tied to her work.
“They pulled out two pages out of 167,” she said.
Patrick told her the dissertation was “not acceptable” and, through a post on X, suggested she resign.
The next morning, Rogers said she received a call from Andrade, the Alamo Trust’s board treasurer. According to the lawsuit, when Rogers asked what would happen if she didn’t resign, Andrade replied, “Then we will fire you.” Within hours, Andrade was named CEO.
The lawsuit also describes a broader pattern of political involvement: Buckingham objecting to a Día del Soldado living-history event, which was subsequently removed from the website; a living historian resigning afterward; and General Land Office staff insisting on reviewing books sold in the Alamo gift shop. Writer Steve Harrigan, who was working on the script for the new museum, was let go shortly after Rogers’ departure.
In the filing, Rogers uses pointed language to illustrate how quickly she believes state leaders moved to remove her. Her lawsuit states: “The fighters at the Alamo courageously held off Santa Anna’s troops for thirteen days. But Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Commissioner Buckingham only needed eleven days to lay siege to the First Amendment.”
After Rogers’ departure, the Alamo Trust and Remember the Alamo Foundation drafted a severance agreement requiring her to stay silent — including a clause stating she “shall not respond to or participate in any public discussion” about her employment or departure and would not make negative comments about the organizations. When Rogers later spoke to Texas Monthly, the lawsuit says the severance was withdrawn.
Rogers says these actions collectively created a narrative suggesting the museum script was “woke,” the Indigenous Peoples Day post was problematic and her dissertation revealed an agenda.
“There’s nothing in my performance that indicates that,” she said. “Nothing that would suggest I was trying to diminish the bravery of the men who died defending the Alamo.”
She said she is worried about the future of the museum’s narrative. “I’m afraid for the narrative,” Rogers said. “I don’t know what those panels will say in 2027.”
A descendant of the Canary Island families who helped found San Antonio, Rogers said she simply hoped to complete the project. “I wanted to be there to cut the ribbon,” she said. “That’s all I wanted.”
Now, she says, she feels a responsibility to fight.
“I know I’m putting myself in a very vulnerable position. The odds are against me. I’m like the Texians up against Santa Anna — let’s just be clear. But somebody has to stand up because this is not right,” Rogers said. “I just felt like I had to fight. The defenders of the Alamo wouldn’t have taken this lying down, right? They were there defending their rights against tyranny. This feels very similar to me.”
Rogers is asking for reinstatement as CEO, compensatory and punitive damages, a declaration that her removal violated the First Amendment, and a permanent injunction preventing further retaliation. She has requested a jury trial.
“To be asked to resign over something I wrote as a private citizen should be concerning to all of us,” she said. “Last time I checked, this is still Texas and we’re still in the United States of America.”
Patrick’s office did not respond to our request for comment. Buckingham and the Alamo Trust said they could not comment due to pending litigation.