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

texastribune.org

41–50 of 223 posts

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

#41

> Neither UTMB nor Texas A&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. Without knowing what was allegedly said, this is difficult to judge, although I would certainly be inclined to side with the professor given what's been reported so far. Professors should be given wide latitude to d…

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

It's really not that hard to judge at all. They found no wrongdoing, and refust to even release what the purported problematic statements were. Their refusal to do so, and how that affects how you view the situation and whether it was warranted are exactly why it's problematic to behave like this in the first place and should be condemned.

Accusations should include some level of evidence. Public accusations should include some level of public evidence, otherwise what's the difference between slander or libel? If I called up your local police department and told them that harshreality is a pedophile, I wouldn't expect them to take any action other than to possibly quietly investigate if they thought it was credible, and if I supplied evidence, I'd expect them to verify that evidence before and public announcements or arrests, as I suspect you would and anyone would when accused of a heinous crime. To do otherwise is to allow the public to be swayed by innuendo rather than fact.

We should not condone behavior such as this.

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

#42
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.

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.

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

#43

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

The first year medical school student who started things is the daughter of a GOP state official, she didn't fall far from the tree despite wanting to be a doctor.

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

#44
post #32
post #5

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

This is literally the definition of a first amendment issue, in my eyes. Should the president be able to ban anyone who works for any company that has any government contracts from making any critical statements about his administration? This isn’t some intern in the office of the politician she (seemingly lightly) criticized, this is a tenured professor. Besides, IMO tenured professors are the very front line of fre…

> * this is a tenured professor.*

I don't think she's tenured — her TAMU Web page says she's a clinical assistant professor. [0]

[0] https://health.tamu.edu/experts/joy-alonzo.html

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

#46
post #26

Crackdowns on free speech are increasing worldwide. Afghanistan, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Florida, Texas... Israel just reached the using fire hoses on protestors level.[1] [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/world/middleeast/israel-j...

Oh come on, stop with the hyperbole. Two of those things are nothing even close to the others.

It's entirely valid to point at different items on the same trend line, even if they may be at different points along it currently. Florida and Texas may not be hosing down protestors or throwing them in jail, but this is hardly an isolated incident and it certainly does qualify as a "crackdown on free speech" in my opinion, as do the classic extreme examples it's included with.

Perhaps how uncomfortable that is should be something we consider thoughtfully rather than something we point to and immediately try to discount.

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

#48

As Nilay Patel from the Verge put it [1] >Your regular reminder that the biggest threat to free speech is the government. > 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! [1]: https:/…

>Your regular reminder that the biggest threat to free speech is the government. The only thing the first amendment protects you from is the government.

[deleted]

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

#49

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

So the same people who fight change they interpret as pushing "woke" culture also believe they have a right to never be exposed to criticism or negative comments against anything with which they identify?

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

#50
post #26

Crackdowns on free speech are increasing worldwide. Afghanistan, Russia, China, Hong Kong, Florida, Texas... Israel just reached the using fire hoses on protestors level.[1] [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/25/world/middleeast/israel-j...

Don't forget California, where faculty is effectively required to engage in progressive political speech!

https://archive.is/VDNPj

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