But when Stanford learned that a Texas A&M University professor had been put on administrative leave after supposedly criticizing Patrick during a lecture, he felt horribly for her.
“They have inflicted real trauma on her. This affects her sense of safety in the world,” he said. “It’s an extraordinarily mean thing they've done to her because Dan Patrick got his baby-bunny feelings hurt.”
Earlier this week, The Texas Tribune reported that Joy Alonzo, a clinical assistant professor of pharmacy, learned her career was on the line after delivering a lecture about the opioid crisis in March. Her talk at the University of Texas Medical Branch was attended by a well-connected student who accused the professor of having spoken ill of Patrick.
The student’s mom? Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham.
Alonzo’s supervisors were suddenly involved, according to the Tribune. Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp reportedly texted the lieutenant governor: “Joy Alonzo has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation re firing her. shud [sic] be finished by end of week.”
Parallels can be drawn between Stanford’s and Alonzo’s cases, but there’s also a big distinction.
“Putting that professor on administrative leave threatens her career,” Stanford said. “When I was censored, it made me a bestseller.”
Over the past couple of years, conservative Texas politicians have worked to squelch what they claim is a liberal bias in education. Book bans are becoming commonplace for materials that touch on race, sexuality or gender.
And Patrick has waged a vendetta against tenure, a key academic-freedom protection for college faculty.
Alonzo, who was ultimately able to hold onto her job, is far from the first Texas professor penalized for their speech. But some academics are now sounding the alarm that a worrying trend of classroom censorship is becoming increasingly worse.
Texas A&M was already smack-dab in the middle of another controversy, one that led to the resignation of the university president and an interim dean. Kathleen McElroy, a Black professor tapped to head Texas A&M’s journalism school, wound up receiving watered-down offers following political interventions.
Both Texas A&M incidents were promptly denounced by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a prominent free speech advocacy organization. FIRE sent a letter on Tuesday urging the school to “take swift, decisive action” toward protecting faculty speech.
“Texas A&M’s punishment of Alonzo to please powerful political forces is a stunning abdication of its constitutional obligations, deeply chilling faculty and student expression on campus,” the letter reads. “It is of no consequence that the Alonzo investigation ultimately resolved in her favor, as the First Amendment prohibits state actors like Texas A&M from any action that 'would chill or silence a person of ordinary firmness from future First Amendment activities[.]'”
Texas A&M University did not return the Observer’s request for comment.
"[A]s members of society, we can't just let our eyes glaze over at yet another outrage." – Alex Morey, FIRE
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FIRE asked the university to respond by Friday confirming that it will renounce the Alonzo investigation and recommit to safeguarding professors’ expressive freedoms. On Thursday, FIRE was told that the school’s acting president intends to reply but needs more time.
Alex Morey, FIRE’s director of campus rights advocacy, told the Observer that Florida has become the primary example of political interference in higher education. But Texas is now giving the Sunshine State “a run for its money.”
Earlier this year, FIRE sued West Texas A&M University’s president after he canceled a student-organized drag show that would have raised funds for an LGBTQ+ suicide prevention nonprofit. FIRE has also represented several Collin College professors who claimed they were let go in violation of their constitutional rights.
Morey noted that classroom discussions may touch on relevant hot-button issues and current events.
“And those administrators who are in charge of our public educational institutions cannot be doing behind-the-scenes wrangling with their political cronies to try and sanitize campuses of faculty that politicians don't like,” she said.
FIRE wants Texas A&M to issue a public statement “distancing themselves from this kind of unlawful, unconstitutional behavior,” she added.
The nation has become increasingly polarized, leading to an uptick in higher-ed political meddling, Morey said. It’s a phenomenon taking place on both sides of the partisan divide.
In the wake of what happened with Alonzo, faculty at Texas A&M will now likely feel a deep chill when it comes to expressing their views, Morey added. They could fear that saying the wrong thing may put their career in jeopardy, especially when it comes to adjunct professors who don’t enjoy tenure.
Universities are a microcosm of what’s to come in broader society, Morey said. Tolerating corruption in these institutions will eventually trickle outward.
“We need the people in charge of our public universities to be so above board in everything they do because their role is so important,” she said. “And as members of society, we can't just let our eyes glaze over at yet another outrage.
“This is really important.”
