Texas A&M Faculty Senate requesting meeting with system chancellor
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – For the second week in a row, the Texas A&M Faculty Senate wants a meeting with leadership.
The senate said Tuesday they were concerned about political interference in a professor’s suspension.
An investigation was launched into Alonzo after she gave a lecture on the opioid crisis at the University of Texas Medical Branch. During the talk, a student accused her of criticizing Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, and UTMB quickly issued a statement condemning her remarks.
Texas A&M System Chancellor John Sharp then reportedly began communicating with the lieutenant governor’s office about the incident, promising swift action, according to the Texas Tribune.
“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,” Vice Chancellor, Laylan Copelin, said.
Texas A&M says they looked into it and say the professor’s remarks were mischaracterized and taken out of context. Alonzo has since returned to her full duties.
“We recently wrote to you to express our concerns about the appearance of political influence in actions regarding the hiring, tenure, and promotion of faculty,” Texas A&M Faculty Senate wrote in a letter to Sharp. “Now we find another case in which there is no longer the appearance, but 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 Faculty Senate said this is damaging the university’s national reputation.
The next Faculty Senate meeting is Aug. 14, but they say they are willing to meet with Chancellor Sharp before then.
