Michael Phillips

Michael Phillips is an American historian specializing in the history of Texas, racism in the United States, right-wing extremism, and apocalyptic religion in the United States. He became involved in a free speech controversy surrounding his employer Collin College in 2022, after he alleged that the school had fired him because of his political beliefs.

Biography

Early life and education Phillips was raised in Garland, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington, where he was a columnist and reporter for student newspaper The Shorthorn. He also wrote for the Arlington Citizen-Journal and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He received an award for Outstanding Dissertation of the Year from the university.

Academic career Phillips authored White Metropolis: Race, Ethnicity and Religion, 1841–2001, which was based on his doctoral dissertation. Phillips’ book chronicles white domination of Dallas during its first 150 years and how religion and definitions of whiteness influenced the status of marginalized groups such as the city's Jewish residents and the Tejano community.

He co-authored The House Will Come To Order with Patrick L. Cox in 2010. The book explores the history of the Texas House of Representatives, and how its statewide and national political influence grew in the 20th century.

From 2007 until 2022, he taught history at Collin College, a two-year institution north of Dallas. He was also an adjunct professor at the University of Texas, where he taught the history of the United States, the history of Texas, and the history of journalism. and served as vice president of the school's Texas Faculty Association chapter. In 2015, Phillips was critical of the hiring of H. Neil Matkin as school president, as Matkin had received his degrees from an unaccredited institution run by Grace Communion International, a controversial Christian denomination.

In 2017, Phillips became a vocal proponent of the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials in Dallas, Texas. He received anonymous death threats during this time. Phillips later said the school reprimanded him for this, saying that his position on the matter "made the school look bad". In April 2020, the student senate passed a resolution to rename the hall.

In 2021, Phillips received the Ottis Lock Award for Educator of the Year from the East Texas Historical Association. Collin College had previously been criticized for limiting political speech, and was named one of the worst colleges in the United States for freedom of speech by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression in 2021 and 2022. At the time of his dismissal, Phillips was one of four Collin College professors who claimed to have been fired over their political views between 2021 and 2022. after The Washington Post published an interview in which he discussed the history of racism in Texas to provide context for the El Paso terror attack. Phillips asked the Washington Post to not mention his school affiliation, as Collin College had instructed faculty to forward any media requests to the school's communications department, but his request was denied by the paper.

According to college records, Phillips was disciplined for sharing a post on Twitter which showed an administrative presentation telling faculty not to discuss face masks with students. The college administration refused to comment on the reason for not renewing his contract.

Phillips' departure from the college drew criticism from educational organizations and teachers' unions including the East Texas Historical Association, the American Association of University Professors, the American Historical Association and the Academic Freedom Alliance. The American Historical Association sent a letter to Matkin urging the school to reverse the decision on the matter, and describing it as part of a "pattern of arbitrary nonrenewals" at the college. As of March 2022, a Change.org petition to reinstate Phillips had gathered 2,300 signatures.

After his dismissal, Phillips criticized the policies of Collin College, and Matkin's school administration in particular, accusing them of creating a "culture of fear" at the school. In March 2022, Phillips became the third former faculty member of Collin College to sue the school for retaliating against protected speech. He was represented by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. A spokesperson for Collin College responded to the lawsuit, saying that Phillips had "mischaracterize facts" and that the school "looks forward to defending its actions in court".

On April 26, 2022, Phillips and a small group of protesters gathered outside the Collin College campus during a school board meeting.

Personal life Phillips is married to Betsy Friauf,