Joy Alonzo is a clinical professor of Pharmacy Practice at Texas A&M and a nationally recognized expert on the opioid crisis. She has helped bring millions of federal research dollars to the university, and last year Texas A&M’s pharmacy school named her the early career researcher of the year.
On March 7, Professor Alonzo was giving a visiting lecture to first year students at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. The lecture covered the opioid crisis and related science, practical advice on preventing opioid deaths, recognizing an overdose and how to administer naloxone, and concluded with a discussion of infrastructure limits and policies that are hampering the response to opioids in Texas.
During the lecture Professor Alonzo cruelly cancelled Texas lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick, by criticizing his support for punitive measures rather than harm-reduction efforts. Fortunately, one of the medical students in the audience was the daughter of Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Cunningham, a political supporter of Patrick's, as well as a personal friend and former state senate colleague.
Less than two hours after the lecture ended, Patrick’s chief of staff had sent a link to Alonzo’s professional bio to Chancellor John Sharp, "a former state comptroller who now holds the highest-ranking position in the Texas A&M University System, which includes 11 public universities and 153,000 students."
Unfortunately, instead of being fired, after two weeks Alonzo was given a slap on the wrist and her suspension was lifted.Shortly after, Sharp sent a text directly to the lieutenant governor: “Joy Alonzo has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation re firing her. shud [sic] be finished by end of week.”
A few hours after Texas A&M started looking into the complaint, course leaders at UTMB sent an email to students in the class saying Alonzo’s comments "about Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick and his role in the opioid crisis" did not represent the opinion of the university.
The email also included a “formal censure” of Alonzo, although it did not specify what she said that was offensive.
I've quoted from this article, not always indicating the copied text. https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/25 ... n-patrick/?
