To:   Belle S. Wheelan, Ph.D.; President, Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Colleges
CC:   Neil Matkin, Ed.D; President, Collin College
Mary Barnes-Tilley, PhD., Plano Campus Provost, Collin College
Dr. Roger Ward, PhD.; President, Collin College Faculty Council
 
We, the undersigned historians at Texas universities and scholars of Texas history, write to urge that the Southern Association of College and Schools Commission on Colleges (SASCSOC) investigate Collin College’s compliance with SACSOC provisions on academic freedom.
 
Colleges and Universities in the United States serve a public purpose.  As the American Association of University Professors says in its “Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure,” “Institutions of higher education are conducted for the common good and not to further the interest of either the individual teacher or the institution as a whole.  The common good depends on the free search for truth and its free exposition.”  SACSOC incorporates these commitments in its insistence that universities must “foster intellectual freedom of faculty to teach, serve, research, and publish,” particularly in Standard 6, Section 4, which stipulates that “The Institution publishes and implements appropriate policies and procedures for preserving and protecting academic freedom.”
 
The non-renewal of the contract of Professor Michael Phillips is the latest in a series of events that calls into question Collin College’s adherence to this standard.  Dr. Phillips, a widely published scholar, prominent public historian, and award-winning educator, reports that he has was sanctioned by Collin College for signing his name and institutional affiliation on a petition to remove Confederate monuments in Dallas (2017), and for discussing the benefits of facemasks and the context of past epidemics in American History (2021).  The non-renewal of his contract, overriding an internal recommendation for renewal by the College’s “Council on Excellence,” comes on the heels of the College agreeing to pay tens of thousands of dollars to another historian, Dr. Lora Burnett, dismissed in 2020 after College leaders discussed her social media statements critical of national political figures with local political leaders, and in the midst of lawsuits from two additional former employees alleging retaliation and suppression of free speech.  
 
It may be, of course, that there are good reasons for denying reappointment to a faculty member, even the author of books and articles widely cited and referenced by other scholars and the press; one recently named “educator of the year” by the East Texas Historical Association; who has won fellowships from the Mellon Foundation, the American Council of Learned Societies, and Baylor University; whose publications have won awards from the East Texas Historical Association and the Texas State Historical Association, who has published 29 book reviews; served on 38 conference panels; and been an invited speaker for public events 55 times.  
 
But the dismissal of such a respected historian raises the prospect that faculty at Collin College are evaluated on the basis of deference to university leaders and whether their public statements match the political outlook of administrators.  Accordingly, we have grave concerns about the wisdom of any of our graduates working at Collin College, and about the impact on the content of history courses taken by possible student transfers to our institution from Collin College.  
 
We hope that you will take this letter as not only a reflection of concern about the dismissal of one accomplished historian, but also and more fundamentally as a plea for SACSOC to fulfill its role in ensuring that our region’s universities and colleges are honoring the principles they were created to serve.  
 
 
1.  Benjamin H. Johnson, Professor of History, Loyola University Chicago.
2.  William Bush, Professor of History and Department Chair, Texas A & M University San Antonio
3.  Light Cummins, Emeritus Professor of History, Former Chair, Austin College
4.  Leah LaGrone, Assistant Professor of History, Weber State University
5.  George T. Díaz, Associate Professor of History, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley.  
6.  Carlos Kevin Blanton, Professor of History and Department Head, Texas A & M University
7,  Jennifer Jensen Wallach, Professor and Chair, University of North Texas
8.  A.K. Sandoval-Strausz, Associate Professor of History, Director of the Latina/o Studies Program, Pennsylvania State University.  
9.  Karl Jacoby, Allan Nevins Professor of American History, Columbia University
10.  María Esther Hammack, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Pennsylvania
11. Patrick Cox, Ph.D., Retired, University of Texas at Austin
12. Walter L. Buenger, Summerlee Foundation Chair in Texas History and Barbara Stuart Centennial Professor in Texas History, University of Texas at Austin
13. Jeffrey Littlejohn, Professor, Sam Houston State University
14. Scott Sosebee, Professor, Stephen F. Austin State University
15.  Sonia Hernandez, Associate Professor, Texas A & M University
16.  John Morán González, J. Frank Dobie Regents Professor of American and English Literature at the University of Texas at Austin
17.  Trinidad Gonzales, History and Mexican American Studies Instructor, South Texas College
18.  Neil Foley, Professor of History, Southern Methodist University
19.  Monica Muñoz Martinez, Associate Professor of History, University of Texas at Austin
20.  Brenda Taylor Matthews, Professor of History, Texas Wesleyan University
21.  Rachel Louise Moran, Associate Professor, University of North Texas
22.  Brian Franklin, Associate Director and Lecturer, Southern Methodist University
23.  Nancy L. Stockdale, Associate Professor of History & Director of International Studies, University of North Texas
24.  Raúl A. Ramos, Associate Professor, University of Houston
25.  Jaime Puente, Policy Analyst, Every Texan
26.  Michael Wise, Associate Professor, University of North Texas
27.  Scott Kurashige, Professor, TCU
28.  Brenda Taylor Matthews Professor of History Texas Wesleyan University
29.  Rachel Louise Moran Associate Professor University of North Texas
30.  Brian Franklin   Associate Director & Lecturer Southern Methodist University
31.  Nancy L. Stockdale Associate Professor of History & Director of International Studies University of North Texas
32.  Jennifer Jensen Wallach Professor and Chair UNT
33.  Raúl A. Ramos Associate Professor University of Houston
34.  Michael Wise Associate Professor of History University of North Texas
35.  Scott Kurashige Professor TCU
36.  Cristina Viviana Groeger Assistant Professor of History Lake Forest College
37.  Caitlin Smith Postdoctoral Researcher Heidelberg University
38.  Nathan Ellstrand PhD Candidate Loyola University Chicago
39.  Douglas Sackman Professor of History University of Puget Sound
40.  Joseph Locke Associate Professor of History University of Houston-Victoria
41.  Felipe Hinojosa Associate Professor, History dept. Texas A&M University
42.  Ariel Ron Glenn M. Linden Assistant Professor of the U.S. Civil War Era Southern Methodist University
43. Philis M. Barragán Goetz Assistant Professor of History Texas A&M University-San Antonio
44.  Omar Valerio-Jiménez Associate Professor University of Texas at San Antonio
45.  Amy Porter Professor Texas A&M University-San Antonio
46.  Erin Hochman Associate Professor of History SMU
47.  Alexey Golubev Assistant Professor University of Houston
48.  Adela Cedillo Assistant Professor University of Houston
49. David McNally Distinguished Professor University of Houston
50.  Monica Perales Associate Professor University of Houston
51.  John Weber Associate Professor of History Old Dominion University
52.  Sarah Fishman Professor University of Houston
53.  Michael Crowder Public Historian Iona College
54.  Jason Mellard Assistant Professor of Practice Texas State University
55.  Philippe Forêt Professor University of Basel
56.  Alexis McCrossen Professor of History SMU
57.  Sabri Ates Associate Prof. Southern Methodist University
58.  Michelle Kuhl Professor of History University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
59.  John Mckiernan-Gonzalez Associate Professor, Department of History Texas State University
60.  Elliott Young Professor of History Lewis & Clark Colleg
61.  Jennifer Koshatka Seman Lecturer in History Metropolitan State University of Denver
62.  Bryan Edward Stone Professor Del Mar College
63.  Nancy Beck Young John and Rebecca Moores Professor of History and Chair, Department of History University of Houston
64.  Angela Pulley Hudson Professor of History and Associate Department Head Texas A&M University
65.  Joel Zapata Assistant Professor of History Oregon State University
66.  Blake Earle Assistant Professor Texas A&M University at Galveston
67.  Mark E. Steiner Professor of Law South Texas College of Law Houston
68.  Teresa Palomo Acosta Poet and Scholar of Tejana History Retired, Briscoe Center for American History, University of Texas at Austin
69.  Sandra C. Mendiola García Associate Professor University of North Texas
70.  Alexis Guilbault Co-director of the digital Humanities Initiative   University of Illinois Chicago
71.  Ben Wright Associate Professor UT-Dallas
72.  Jermaine Thibodeaux Assistant Professor University of Oklahoma
73.  Patrick Thomas Troester Adjunct Lecturer Southern Methodist University
74.  Cary Cordova Associate Professor of American Studies The University of Texas at Austin
75.  Patrick J. Kelly Associate Professor The University of Texas at San Antonio
76.  Julia Mickenberg Professor University of Texas at Austin
77.  Francis X. Galán Associate Professor of History Texas A&M University-San Antonio
78.  Lauren Gutterman Associate Professor, American Studies University of Texas at Austin
79.  Kenneth Stevens Professor Emeritus of History Texas Christian University
80.  Tom Alter Assistant Professor of History Texas State University
81.  Jeffrey Shepherd   Professor, UT-El Paso