COLLEGE STATION, Texas — In a letter to her fellow senators, the Speaker of the Faculty Senate, Tracey Hammond expressed concerns over the handling of Texas A&M professor Joy Alonzo being put on administrative leave.
"I think what happened to Dr. Alonzo has created a real chilling effect across the university," Texas A&M Journalism Professor Nathan Crick said. "There's been a lot of discussions about self-censorship, about what we can say not just about arts and humanities issues, but we're talking about sciences about opioid addiction and climate change."
Alonzo, who is an opioid expert and Professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice, was giving a lecture on the opioid crisis at the University of Texas Medical Branch when a student sitting in on the lecture accused her of criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. After she was reported, she was put on administrative leave while an investigation was conducted.
Alonzo was cleared of the reported wrongdoing after the investigation had concluded.
"If we cannot speak freely as academics then our profession means nothing," Crick said. "To be free in a society is to be critical and to be criticized. An open society requires conjectures and refutations. The ability for leaders and the led to criticize each other."
On Friday, Hammond sent acting university president Mark Welsh questions about the administrative leave policy. Saying that "Professor Alonzo's administrative leave appears to have been instigated on a hasty reaction that short-circuited reasonable due process under the circumstances."
"We all really appreciate the words of Acting President Welsh, but really I think a lot of us are waiting to see what the university does and the university system and the leaders in the state government," said Crick. "We need to see an absolute commitment to the freedom of this university, and the people here that commit their lives to education."
The Faculty Senate will meet on Sunday to discuss the appointment of an interim president at Texas A&M and the "authorization to negotiate a potential settlement of claims of Kathleen McElroy".
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