Proposed legislative bills would make suing student grounds for faculty tenure revocation

[TexasTowelie]

Trigger Warning: This story contains discussion of pedophilia and sexual harassment.

State lawmakers are considering two bills this legislative session that would change how tenured professors are evaluated and what can cause revocation of tenure.

Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, filed Senate Bill 1623, which would allow public institutions to possibly revoke tenure or otherwise discipline a faculty member if they file a civil lawsuit against a student, regardless of whether the suit is dismissed or not.

The legislation was prompted by UT classics professor Thomas Hubbard, who sued three students last year for libel after they said Hubbard advocated for pedophilia and called for his removal in fall 2019, according to previous reporting by The Daily Texan. Hubbard was not found to be in violation of University policies, according to previous reporting by the Texan.

Bettencourt said at a Senate Committee on Higher Education meeting that it was “abhorrent” a professor would file a lawsuit without first dealing with the situation internally.

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Sarah Blakemore, the first student sued by Hubbard, is the daughter of Republican political consultant Allen Blakemore, according to reporting by The Texas Tribune. Sarah declined to comment. Allen has worked for Bettencourt before, but Bettencourt denied that the bill was written as a favor to Allen, according to The Tribune.

Read more: https://thedailytexan.com/2021/04/23/proposed-legislative-bills-would-make-suing-student-grounds-for-faculty-tenure-revocation/