An Associate Professor of Finance at the McCombs School of Business has initiated legal proceedings against UT-Austin officials for efforts to restrict his speech.
Richard Lowery alleges the officials threatened him for his criticism of the university. The lawsuit claims the university violated Dr. Lowery's constitutional rights and academic freedom.
In a complaint submitted to an Austin federal court in June, Dr. Lowery claims officials at UT-Austin threatened his job security, a salary reduction, and removal from UT's Salem Center because of his public criticisms of the university. The Salem Center is an academic institute affiliated with the McCombs School.
Dr. Lowery has spoken out on university-related matters, and his writings have been featured in publications such as The Hill, the Texas Tribune, and the Houston Chronicle. He has spoken critically of the school’s positions on critical-race theory, affirmative action, competence-based performance assessments, and other issues.
His comments have also included criticism of UT-Austin's diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) requirements. The Texas legislature passed a bill in 2023 to eliminate most DEI programs from the state’s public universities.
The complaint claims that the university pressured Carlos Carvalho, another professor of business at the McCombs School. Carvalho serves as the Executive Director of the Salem Center for Public Policy, Dr. Lowery reports to Carvalho.
According to the complaint, Sheridan Titman, McCombs’ Finance Department Chair, conveyed concerns about Dr. Lowery's political advocacy to Carvalho. Titman claimed that UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell and Lillian Mills, the business school’s dean, were unhappy with Dr. Lowery's political advocacy.
Titman allegedly asked if steps could be taken to have him "tone it down" and also stated, "We need to do something about Richard.”
When Carvalho resisted calls to discipline Dr. Lowery, Mills threatened to remove Carvalho from his role as Executive Director, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit also claims members of the administration supported police surveillance of Dr. Lowery, citing concerns about his outreach to politicians and others.
Lowery claims in the lawsuit that he was compelled to self-censor, lock his Twitter account to restrict public access, and curtail his public criticism of the UT Administration.
Lowery is represented in the lawsuit by the Institute for Free Speech, a First Amendment advocacy group, along with legal counsel Michael E. Lovins from the Austin law firm Lovins Trosclair.
The lawsuit names three McCombs School of Business officials as defendants, including Mills, Titman, and Ethan Burris, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs.