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Texas University Suspended Prof After Student Said She Criticized Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

Opioid epidemic expert Joy Alonzo reportedly found her job at risk after a student was offended by a remark she made about the state’s lieutenant governor.

A major Texas university censured and suspended an esteemed expert on the opioid epidemic after a student alleged that she criticized the state’s lieutenant governor during a lecture, The Texas Tribune reports. Texas A&M Professor Joy Alonzo found her job on the line when, shortly after a March lecture on her area of expertise at the University of Texas Medical Branch, her employer put her on administrative leave. The Tribune reported that the university’s chancellor personally communicated with the office of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick about suspending Alonzo. According to the Tribune, Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, a political ally of Patrick whose daughter attended Alonzo’s lecture, initiated the conversations around Alonzo’s suspension. Texas A&M has since allowed Alonzo to return to her job, but it remains a mystery what exactly she said to infuriate Patrick and university leadership.