Troy Punishes Professor for Using University Letterhead

A Troy University professor who sent a personal letter to Alabama lawmakers received a disciplinary notice from his department chair, claiming he issued “unauthorized communication” on “behalf of Troy University” by using university letterhead, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression announced in a news release Thursday. 

Micah Swartz, a math professor at Troy, wrote to Alabama legislative officials in April about his concerns with the Alabama Numeracy Act Course Review Committee, FIRE reported.

“I am writing … because my first year in this role has been the most challenging of my career—and not for any of the usual reasons. The workload, the service obligations, the research I am conducting, and the move away from family have all been manageable,” Swartz wrote. “What has not been manageable is the Alabama Numeracy Act (ANA) Course Review Committee’s handling of Troy University’s proposed undergraduate numeracy syllabi.” 

His department chair wrote that using the university letterhead “represented he was communicating in an official capacity on behalf of Troy University,” according to FIRE. Swartz shared the letter with his students and later received a second disciplinary notice in May for “unprofessional conduct,” according to the release. FIRE is calling on the university to rescind the two disciplinary letters. Beyond the two notices, it’s unclear what disciplinary actions have been taken, if any. 

“The right to petition government officials is one of the core expressive freedoms explicitly protected by the First Amendment. Academics don’t surrender that right just because they choose to work at a state school,” said Zach Greenberg, FIRE’s director of faculty legal defense. “By attempting to silence a professor for speaking out about how taxpayer dollars are being spent—and then punishing him again for sharing his plight with others—Troy is setting a chilling precedent that would lead to more censorship and less government accountability across the state of Alabama.”

Troy University declined to comment on the case, citing “confidential personnel matters.”

But in a statement to Inside Higher Ed, a university spokesperson wrote that Troy “respects the rights of faculty and staff to speak as private citizens on matters of public concern. Employees speaking in a personal capacity are expected to make clear that they do not represent the University and to ensure that their statements could not reasonably be perceived as an institutional endorsement.”