Charlie Hermes, a University of Texas at Arlington faculty member who has been arrested three times over civil disobedience while protesting in the past year, has been placed on paid administrative leave at the university.
In a March 7 letter Hermes shared with the Report, Miriam Byrd, the chair of UTA’s Department of Philosophy and Humanities, informed Hermes of his leave and cited “numerous complaints” about his teaching as the reasoning behind the move.
Hermes, a senior lecturer in the philosophy department who has taught at the university for 18 years, said he was blindsided by the leave. He pointed to his annual evaluation with Byrd weeks earlier that cited several positive comments from students.
“The only thing that makes sense to me is pressure coming from political reasons. What doesn’t make sense about that to me is wondering where that pressure is coming from,” Hermes said.
Last May, Hermes was arrested on UTA’s campus lawn for one count of criminal trespassing as part of a student-led, pro-Palestine protest against the war in Gaza. This January, Hermes was arrested twice on two separate occasions at Tarrant County Commissioners Court, once on Jan. 14 for disrupting court proceedings in protest of a death at the county jail, and again on Jan. 28 for clapping when County Judge Tim O’Hare warned him not to. He was booked into jail all three times.
A UTA spokesperson confirmed that Hermes is on leave effective March 8, and declined to comment further stating that the university does not comment on personnel matters.
“UTA has received numerous complaints regarding your courses and teaching this semester. Up until last week you still had not uploaded assignment or substantive readings to your courses,” Byrd wrote in the letter. Hermes said it is not a requirement for faculty to upload assignments to a portal. “UTA is currently reviewing the complaints.”
Hermes told the Report that he received the letter in a meeting with Byrd and an official from UTA human resources on March 7 — a meeting that was called the day before it occurred. Byrd wrote that Hermes’ leave was “not disciplinary in nature.”
Weeks earlier, Byrd praised Hermes in a section of an annual evaluation the instructor shared with the Report.
“Due to the number of positive comments in Dr. Hermes’ evaluations, the number of hours spent working with students after class, and his willingness to teach conference courses, I find that Dr. Hermes exceeds expectations in teaching,” Byrd concluded in her Feb. 17 evaluation.
This semester, Hermes said he has been trying a new approach to his logic classes, and that as new methods are explored, things could be improved. But for the past few days, he’s been wondering — and turning around in his head — questions about what prompted the leave.
“I’m kind of speechless,” he said, fighting back tears. “I love UTA. It’s an amazing university to work for. There’s amazing people all the way up.”
Hermes said that he’s consulting with others — including the Texas chapter of American Association of University Professors, a national group dedicated to defending academic freedom — for advice on how to move forward.
Shomial Ahmad is a higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report, in partnership with Open Campus. Contact her at shomial.ahmad@fortworthreport.org.
The Report’s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth, Texas Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Science Center.
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