An assistant professor at Texas A&M’s pharmacy college was placed on a two week suspension earlier this year after she made remarks during a lecture that others thought were critical of the lieutenant governor.
That’s according to an investigation that was published by the Texas Tribune.
Through a Texas A&M system statement obtained by WTAW News, Dr. Joy Alonzo said her remarks were mischaracterized and were taken out of context.
The Texas Tribune learned that last March, Alonzo was censured by the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB).
The Tribune obtained a UTMB e-mail sent to students stating that Alonzo made comments during the lecture about Dan Patrick and his role in the opioid crisis.
The Tribune reported the UTMB censure was followed by the A&M suspension.
A statement given to WTAW News by A&M system vice chancellor of marketing and communications Laylan Copelin said the suspension followed “The University of Texas Medical Branch issued a public statement ‘censuring’ one of our faculty members. It would have been irresponsible for us not to have looked into it. You can’t ignore an allegation from another university.”
The Tribune article found communications involving Patrick, the A&M system chancellor, the chairman of the University of Texas system board of regents, and land commissioner Dawn Buckingham, whose daughter attended Alonzo’s lecture.
The speaker of the Texas A&M faculty senate sent WTAW News a letter regarding the Tribune article. The senate’s executive committee said in part that what happened to Dr. Alonzo is “actual evidence, of interference by outside political forces to erode the academic freedom of Texas A&M faculty to dialog with students on socially relevant topics in their area of expertise.” The executive committee wants chancellor Sharp to meet with the full senate, in part, “to prevent further episodes such as this in the coming academic year.”
