Texas A&M suspended professor accused of criticizing Lt. Gov. Patrick in lecture

Crackdowns on free speech are increasing worldwide. Afghanistan, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Florida, Texas...<p>Israel just reached the using fire hoses on protestors level.[1]<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2023&#x2F;07&#x2F;25&#x2F;world&#x2F;middleeast&#x2F;israel-judicial-vote-whats-next.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nytimes.com&#x2F;2023&#x2F;07&#x2F;25&#x2F;world&#x2F;middleeast&#x2F;israel-j...</a>

How weirdly fragile and vindictive do you have to be to initiate a formal complaint against a <i>guest lecturer</i> for making an observation about public policy you think is off-base? How lame do you have to be to <i>even know how to do that,</i> and to do it so fast that the lecturer heard about it when she got home?

I guess those students have been put on notice, not to voice anything critical of party officials or their public policy.<p>&gt; <i>Less than two hours after the lecture ended, Patrick’s chief of staff had sent Sharp a link to Alonzo’s professional bio.</i><p>&gt; <i>Shortly after, Sharp sent a text directly to the lieutenant governor: “Joy Alonzo has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation re firing her. shud [sic] be finished by end of week.”</i><p>&gt; [...]<p>&gt; <i>At 4:22 p.m., as Alonzo was learning that a controversy was brewing, a course coordinator sent an email to the entire class distancing UTMB from comments Alonzo allegedly made about Patrick. The subject line read, “STATEMENT OF FORMAL CENSURE.”</i><p>&gt; <i>“The statements made by the guest lecturer do not represent the opinion or position of the University of Texas Medical Branch, nor are they considered as core curriculum content for this course,” the email said.</i><p>&gt; <i>“UTMB does not support or condone these comments. We take these matters very seriously and wish to express our disapproval of the comment and apologize for harm it may have caused for members of our community,” the email continued. “We hereby issue a formal censure of these statements and will take steps to ensure that such behavior does not happen in the future.”</i>

It&#x27;s worth knowing more details than the headline here:<p>1. Professor Joy Alonzo, who&#x27;s an expert in Opiod harm-reduction gave a talk where according to all accounts, she mildly critiqued the Lt. Governor and state&#x27;s preferences for punitive approaches for drug control and that they are considered Federal non-reporters on Opioid stats since they don&#x27;t collect the data required.<p>2. Dawn Buckingham, the TX Land Commissioner has a daughter who was in the audience of the talk. (presumably) The daughter texts her mom, telling her that the lecture disparaged the Lt. Gov.<p>3. Buckingham immediately texts the Lt. Governor that Alonzo had critiqued him - the Lt. Gov then called the Chancellor of Texas A&amp;M where Professor Alonzo is employed.<p>4. Chancellor texts, literal hours after the lecture was finished, that &quot;Joy Alonzo has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation re firing her. shud [sic] be finished by end of week.&quot;<p>Absolutely clear cut violation of the 1st amendment. If they had any shame, everyone involved would resign.

&gt; The Texas A&amp;M University professor had just returned home from giving a routine lecture on the opioid crisis at the University of Texas Medical Branch in March when she learned a student had accused her of disparaging Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during the talk.<p>Very Soviet.<p>Is this a weird Texas thing, or is it normal for American universities? It&#x27;s virtually impossible to imagine here; universities are more or less ground zero for criticising the government.

I was struck by the final passage in the article:<p>&gt;“While it is important to preserve and defend academic freedom and as such be able to discuss and present to students and the public the results of research observations and strategies, you should be mindful of how you present your views,” Udeani [the pharmacy school Dean] said.<p>Notably, Texas has banned diversity and inclusion programs and trainings. I think it is a valid line of questioning to ask whether or not the Dean&#x27;s advice here constitutes an inclusivity mandate that would be illegal under Texas law.

&gt; <i>And Sharp was communicating directly with the lieutenant governor’s office about the incident, promising swift action.</i><p>In Texas, what entities have oversight over potential abuses of power by the Lt. Governor&#x27;s office, the Texas A&amp;M system Chancellor, and the Texas Land Commissioner?<p>Are they credible?<p>I&#x27;m not going to jump to conclusions, but am wondering whether this credible-looking journalism will prompt government investigation with integrity.

Not the way I would have preferred to see my Alma mater on HN, but not exactly shocked, either.

The constant keeping in the loop of the Lt governor (Patrick) is disturbing on several levels. One, that students and faculty would tattle on a lecturer holding an adverse opinion of a politician in efforts to punish them, and two, that the LtGov actually cares enough to stay engaged.<p>For those not from Texas, know that Dan Patrick is one of the most despicable politicians in the country, and wields almost total power over what gets presented to the Texas legislature. As horrible as this story is, I am not surprised by his behavior.

As Nilay Patel from the Verge put it [1]<p>&gt;Your regular reminder that the biggest threat to free speech is the government.<p>&gt; Complaining about social platforms moderating content according to their whims is just how politicians distract you from how fast they’ve all gotten sick of the First Amendment. This story is outrageous — no one will even say what this professor allegedly said that was so offensive!<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theverge.com&#x2F;2023&#x2F;7&#x2F;25&#x2F;23806946&#x2F;your-regular-reminder-that-the-biggest-threat-to-free-speech-is-the-government" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.theverge.com&#x2F;2023&#x2F;7&#x2F;25&#x2F;23806946&#x2F;your-regular-rem...</a>

&gt; Ultimately Texas A&amp;M allowed Alonzo to keep her job after an internal investigation could not confirm any wrongdoing.

What are the laws around the government punishing government employees for criticizing the government?<p>I&#x27;m not an expert but it doesn&#x27;t really seem like a first amendment issue although I think most would agree that the government shouldn&#x27;t be punishing its own employees for conduct like this.

Spoiler alert - The free speech crowd never actually cared about free speech.

I wonder if the criticism is along the lines of the attitude around the US-Mexico border is crackdown on the distribution and availability of the narcan (naxalone). <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;abc13.com&#x2F;texas-am-suspends-professor-joy-alonzo-suspended-with-pay-criticizing-dan-patrick-what-happened&#x2F;13546665&#x2F;" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;abc13.com&#x2F;texas-am-suspends-professor-joy-alonzo-sus...</a><p>I heard that in Mexico right wing politicians are blocking the import of naxalone with the attitude that people that OD on the streets should not be helped.<p>Just wondering...

The liberal flight from California to Texas are going to have a rude fucking wakeup call eventually.

Free thinking patriots cancel another marxist just as God intended.

&gt; Neither UTMB nor Texas A&amp;M would confirm what Alonzo said that prompted such a reaction, and UTMB students interviewed by the Tribune recalled a vague reference to Patrick’s office but nothing specific.<p>Without knowing what was allegedly said, this is difficult to judge, although I would certainly be inclined to side with the professor given what&#x27;s been reported so far.<p>Professors should be given wide latitude to discuss matters of academic interest, and the opioid crisis and political decisions contributing to it certainly qualify.<p>On the other hand, if she made a snide comment about the TX Lt. Governor without grounding it in policy, that&#x27;s not good. However, professors are only human, and I don&#x27;t think it would be fair or reasonable to impose disciplinary action for isolated cases. It might potentially be worthy of disciplinary action in some cases, though... IF it was that kind of comment, and IF it was more than an isolated case.<p>Why? Because while private individuals are free to talk about anything they want, professors are supposed to be maintaining an environment of thoughtful academic discourse, and certain kinds of biased comments do not, therefore disciplinary (not legal) action might at some point be warranted. Far fetched? It&#x27;s not as if it&#x27;s unheard of for professors who disagree with politicians to go on fact-free political rants these days.