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

Joy Alonzo is an expert on the opioid epidemic and a professor in Texas A&M University’s Department of Pharmacy Practice.The Texas A&M University professor had just returned home from giving a routine lecture on the opioid crisis at the University of Texas Medical Branch when she learned a student had accused her of disparaging Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick during the talk.

Less than two hours after the lecture ended, Patrick’s chief of staff had sent Sharp a link to Alonzo’s professional bio. The Texas A&M system confirmed the series of phone calls and text messages that led to Alonzo’s investigation was kicked off by Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham, a graduate of UTMB’s medical school. The Tribune confirmed her daughter, a first-year medical student at the time, attended Alonzo’s lecture. Buckingham served six years in the Texas Senate with Patrick, who endorsed her run for land commissioner last year, and she recently attended Sharp’s wedding in May.

“It is not unusual to respond to any state official who has concerns about anything occurring at the Texas A&M System,” said Copelin, who said the system followed standard procedure to look into the claim.

“It’s a shame because all we want is to make people aware of harm-reduction strategies that can save lives, especially among youth and young adults who are especially vulnerable these days,” wrote Ory, who did not respond to a request for comment.Alonzo has spent more than two decades as a pharmacist in Japan, Missouri and elsewhere, and has taught college students in Texas for more than a decade.

Lawmakers allocated $18 million over the next two years toward providing naloxone, an opioid-reversing drug, to police, schools and community organizations on the front lines of the epidemic. To improve the government’s response to overdose spikes, they also passed laws requiring police and other public entities to report overdoses to a public health agency.

On March 7, the two started the day with breakfast at the laid-back Mosquito Cafe in Galveston before heading to the lecture, which was mandatory for students to attend. The lecture ended around noon. Afterward, students gathered at the front of the class to grab free naloxone kits provided by Alonzo. Some stuck around to ask Alonzo questions.Alonzo got in her car and started her two-and-a-half-hour journey home.

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