Bret Bryon #

Introduction #

Bret Bryon is a Texas State University lecturer who stopped teaching after a doctor publicly shared expletive-filled Facebook messages that an account bearing his name and picture had sent her, including one in which the account said he hoped she would be deported. The university confirmed on Feb. 5, 2026, that Bryon was no longer teaching as of Feb. 4, but declined to say whether the departure was connected to the messages, stating that it does not discuss personnel matters. The case drew widespread attention online after screenshots of the exchange circulated and the university was tagged in replies to them.

Background Information #

Bryon was listed on Texas State’s website until Thursday of that week as a lecturer and program faculty member in the Department of Organization, Workforce and Leadership Studies in the College of Applied Arts; it is not clear how long he worked there. According to his now-removed faculty profile, he was a retired U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commissioned officer with a Bachelor of Science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master of Education from Texas State. State records show he also held a Texas educator certificate in mathematics, physical science and engineering for grades 6-12.

Beyond his faculty role, syllabi filed under HB 2504 showed Bryon was teaching four classes that semester — Aerodynamics, Aviation Safety, Operations Risk Management and Aviation Weather — and he was listed as a co-principal on a $24,000 grant funded from Dec. 8, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. In 2022, Manor ISD investigated Bryon over anti-vaccination and explicit tweets allegedly posted on his now-deleted X account.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation #

Employment consequence over documented messages. The messages described here were documented in screenshot-based reporting by KUT/The Texas Tribune and The University Star. No criminal charges were involved. The university confirmed only that Bryon was no longer teaching and declined to discuss personnel matters or say whether the departure was related; Bryon did not respond to requests for comment.

Dr. Dhivya Srinivasa, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon and the CEO and founder of the Institute for Advanced Breast Reconstruction, received an expletive-filled message via Facebook Messenger from an account with Bryon’s name and picture. In it, the account derided her as a “leftist,” used a misogynistic slur, and said he hoped she would be deported. Srinivasa, who has no affiliation with Texas State, posted screenshots of the exchange publicly on a Tuesday evening and reposted them the next day, tagging the university after confirming Bryon was employed there.

The university’s official account replied in the comments that it was “looking into the matter” and would “take appropriate action based on findings.” On the Thursday of that week, Texas State confirmed Bryon was no longer teaching as of the prior Wednesday. Spokesperson Jayme Blaschke wrote in an email to The Star: “As of Feb. 4, 2026, Bret Bryon is no longer teaching classes at Texas State University. Texas State University does not discuss personnel matters.” The university did not comment on whether he was terminated or quit, or whether he remained connected to the university in any other capacity.

Srinivasa said she posts political commentary along with lifestyle and health content but had not previously interacted with Bryon, and that the message coming from a named, non-anonymous account prompted her to look up information about him and share it. “I’m sure it was specific to a post, but I post daily, and more recently, it has been sort of political commentaries,” she told The Star. “I’m sure it’s in response to one of those, I just don’t know which one.”

Public Reaction and Consequences #

The screenshots drew widespread attention online after Srinivasa shared them and tagged the university. She told The Texas Tribune she was satisfied with Texas State’s response and saw the message as part of a broader climate in which social media and political rhetoric have emboldened people to make comments they might not otherwise say. “This guy was an educator, and it shouldn’t come as a shock that people like this work among us and teach the next generation,” she said. “We should be holding people accountable.”

The case also drew commentary on the free-speech questions it raised. Graham Piro, faculty legal defense fund fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, told The Star that faculty members at public institutions retain First Amendment protection to speak as private citizens on matters of public concern, but that the protection does not cover everything. “However, that does not mean faculty are able to send messages that harass others or make true threats against others. Those standards for those unprotected categories of speech is very high,” Piro wrote in an email.

By the end of that week, Bryon had been removed from the university’s website listing, and the aviation classes he had been scheduled to teach were shown as assigned to Donald Wimp, another lecturer in the same department.

Current Status #

As of the Feb. 6, 2026 reporting, Bryon was no longer teaching at Texas State as of Feb. 4, 2026, but the university had not said whether he was terminated or resigned, and it declined to say whether his departure was related to the messages. Bryon did not respond to requests for comment from either The Texas Tribune or The University Star, and no criminal charges were reported in the case.

The episode landed amid broader scrutiny of off-duty speech at the university: in September 2025, Texas State President Kelly Damphousse had announced the firing of history professor Thomas Alter for remarks at an off-campus socialist conference, and Alter sued the university, alleging his First Amendment rights were violated.

Impact on Their Career/Life #

Bryon’s classroom role ended within days of the messages going public: his faculty profile was removed from the Texas State website, and the four aviation courses he was to teach that semester were reassigned to another lecturer. He remained listed as a co-principal on the $24,000 grant, which runs through Dec. 31, 2026.

Because the university declined to discuss personnel matters, it was never publicly clarified whether Bryon was fired or resigned, or whether he remained at the university in another capacity. The 2022 Manor ISD investigation into tweets allegedly posted on his account — which he had not publicly addressed — was noted in The Star’s reporting on the messages. No statement from Bryon appeared in either outlet’s coverage.