Facebook Groups Face off Over Alberto Gonzales Teaching at Texas Tech

Last updated on August 10th, 2014 at 05:08 pm

Facebook has become a rallying place for those opposing the career of Alberto Gonzales, who will teach his first class as a visiting professor at Texas Tech on August 31st. Some of the groups originate from Texas Tech, like the 150 member “Alberto Gonzales Doesn’t Belong at Texas Tech” started by “TT” alum Jason Rhodes.

Another similar group is the one started by Texas Tech alum David Ring , who is a former student of Professor Walter Schaller, the professor who originated the petition against the hiring of Gonzales. The petition, signed by some 88 professors at Texas Tech is in protest to his visiting professorship, at the salary of $100,000 for one year. The unusually lucrative visiting professorship for Gonzales, who has never taught a college class before in his life, could have paid for two far more highly qualified visiting professors with actual teaching experience and academic credentials.

Others who object to Gonzales and are organizing through face book are more generic in their opposition. Groups like the 56 member “Alberto Gonzales should spend the rest of his worthless life in prison”.

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Groups address not only disapproval of Gonzales himself, but of those individuals who served as his staff, joining him in participating in what many view to be unethical, and possibly illegal conduct, like the groups which seek to have Gonzales right-hand man Ted Ullyot fired from his position on the legal staff of Facebook, “We demand that Facebook fire Alberto Gonzales’ right hand man, Ted Ullyot” and the 14 member “Justice Starts Here, tell Facebook to fire Alberto Gonzales lap dog”.

As specific as the antipathy is to Ted Ullyot, it is sparklingly clear that the objection is even greater to the actions of Alberto Gonzales. Then there is the 3,425 member group “Demand that Facebook General Counsel Ullyot resign'” and the group “Free Facebook: No Alberto Gonzales, No Ted Ullyot as General Counsel”.

There are even more groups on Facebook which object to Gonzales not only individually, or to the unusually cushy teaching position given to him by his close political friend Chancellor Kent Hance. These groups are a bit more broadly based in their opposition to Gonzales, and are even sometimes a bit scurrilous.

With titles like the 12 member “Alberto Gonzales can suck my dick” and the 3 member “Alberto Gonzales is a demented child rapist”, these myriad groups more generally are in opposition to ALL of the Bush administration alums, and therefore prominently include opposition to Gonzales.

It remains to be seen in the coming weeks, especially beginning with Gonzales’ first day of class at TT at the end of the month, how effective these Facebook organized movement will be at influencing Gonzales future tenure with Texas Tech.

Unconfirmed rumors abound that Chancellor Hance has hopes of extending the term of Gonzales term as a professor at Texas Tech, after the speculation that there was strong faculty opposition against hiring him to teach within the law school, and possibly a failure as well to see him installed as Dean. The scope of the Facebook groups alone in opposition to him is extensive. If it will also be effective in countering the clout of Chancellor Hance on Gonzales’s behalf remains to be seen – but it should be fun to watch.



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