AUSTIN, Texas — University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell recently dismissed grievances filed by two teaching assistants (TAs) over work assignments after they sent a pro-Palestine message on a class messaging board in November.
According to a report from KVUE's media partners at the Austin American-Statesman, Hartzell officially dismissed the complaints from Callie Kennedy and Parham Daghighi in a disposition last week. The two TAs reportedly spent hours writing statements, collecting evidence and gathering materials to argue the grievances, in which they alleged that their work reassignments served as discipline and violated academic freedoms.
The TAs' message was sent through a student portal, which the university argued was "unprofessionally misused."
The TAs were part of a course called "Women and Madness," which focuses on mental health. They say they sent the message to students over the school's communication portal, Canvas.
"We wanted to send a message to acknowledge the mental health implications of the current escalation of violence in Gaza. As your teaching assistants, we feel it is important to be clear that we do not support the university's silence around the suffering many of our students, staff, and faculty are experiencing on campus," the message read in part.
The message went on to share mental health resources for anyone troubled by the conflict.
The TAs say they then received "reassignment letters" from the dean of the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, calling their message inappropriate and unprofessional. The letters also stated that the TAs will not be reappointed as TAs next semester.
In a statement provided to the Statesman on Wednesday, Hartzell asserted that academic freedom "protects the ability of instructors to provide points of view and a fulsome discussion around classroom material. That is not what happened here." He continued to reiterate that the statements made by the TAs "was overtly political, went beyond the classroom material, and is not protected under academic freedom."
Hartzell's decision to dismiss the complaints cannot be appealed.
To learn more, read the Statesman's full report.