Texas Tech University: Assistant Professor Suspended for Anti-Israel Social Media Commentary
Cases
Texas Tech University
Case Overview
FIRE Victory closed
On March 4, 2024, after a media outlet published a roundup of his social media activity, Texas Tech University suspended assistant professor Jairo F煤nez-Flores because of his social media posts critical of Israel鈥檚 treatment of the Palestinians, which the university described as 鈥渁ntithetical鈥 to its values. FIREwrote Texas Tech on March 13, urging the university to reverse its suspension of F煤nez-Flores because the First Amendment protects his speech as a private citizen on matters of public concern, and suspending him without first giving him an opportunity to respond to the charges raises due process concerns. On April 12, Texas Tech announced it had reinstated F煤nez-Flores and cleared him of wrongdoing.