According to a local TV station as late as last night there were 45 signatories to the petition, whose creator is quoted by the Avalanche-Journal thusly:

Walter Schaller, a Tech philosophy professor since 1986, said Friday he decided to take action because "with the emphasis on ethics the university has adopted, a guy that misled Congress is not the kind of person we want to represent Texas Tech."

The petition protesting Gonzales' appointment as a visiting professor in political science isn't a secret from the college's chancellor. Not surprisingly, Texas Tech University Chancellor Kent Hance has said he'll go ahead with the appointment. Hance, Tech's third chancellor and the first alumnus to serve the university in that position is a lawyer and a veteran politician. .
The A-J gives some more details on Schaller's petition and position regarding Gonzales:

The petition cites two main reasons for opposing Gonzales' hire: because the chancellor should not hire faculty and because Gonzales' record is questionable. The attorney general resigned from his post amid controversy in 2007.

"It is unclear what Gonzales has done that makes him deserving of employment at Texas Tech. Does he have a noteworthy academic record? Does he have a record of publishing in law reviews? Was his service to his country particularly distinguished?," the petition reads.

Hance's hiring of a "good friend" is in conflict with Tech's "Statement of Ethical Principles," according to the petition, which calls the chancellor's involvement in selecting faculty and the "celebrity hire" as "troubling."

The document goes on to list Gonzales "ethical failings," including: frequently misleading Congress and the American people; rejecting the Geneva Conventions; denying the constitutional right of habeas corpus; and showing more loyalty to President George W. Bush than to the Constitution.

"I tried to document all of the charges against Gonzales," Schaller said, citing a 2008 Department of Justice report and a 2009 Inspector Generals' report investigating Gonzales' surveillance programs as his information sources.

Once the signature gathering process is finished, Schaller said the petition will be delivered to the chancellor's office.

Since Gonzales has already been hired, Schaller said he does not expect Hance to withdraw his offer or the former attorney general to decline the appointment.

"Since Hance said Gonzales may have an opportunity to stay on beyond the first year, I think it's important that faculty raise their voice now," he said.

Guns Up, Professor Schaller!! I hope more members of the faculty with join you and others who find this objectionable will not just speak up with their voices but with their pocketbooks (curtail donations to TTU).

Let me tell you a little about Texas Tech University, which is a land-grant college / public university. It's not the oldest nor the newest nor the biggest such college in Texas; my affection for it isn't unmixed, believe me. But Professor Schaller reminds me of the reasons I do, sometimes, feel a little pride in my alma mater (less so lately, I confess: paying Karen Hughes, Karl Rove and Ken Starr money to come speak at commencements didn't sit well with me, and this stunt is more of the same).

My youngest son will graduate there in December, if all goes well. I've worked for it as an employee; I graduated from it with a bachelor of arts in 1985, when it didn't even have a chancellor. I know that Tech is no stranger to controversy, let alone stupidity (tortilla tossing at football games is, sadly, the least of it). Fortunately, despite West Texas' prejudices to the contrary, the law of the land is the Constitution, which trumps campus rules.

In the last several years the university has expanded exponentially -- and taken a hard turn to the right, philosophically. When I was an undergrad, a "free speech zone" would've been ignored by every student who had a point of view. Twenty years later it took a law student's suit to change the campus rules. When I went to Tech there were guards in pillboxes at every entrance; that's no longer financially feasible, but the University still manages -- and for this I as a female am thankful -- to offer a van for safe transport for students, staff, and faculty out to the remote parking lots or in from them.

The Lege allowed Tech to swallow up Angelo State University in 2007, giving it a "system" designation in non-Health-Sciences-Center terms. (The much less distant and more approachable West Texas University at Canyon, though, was awarded to the TAMU system despite Tech's efforts to annex it.) The University operates a satellite campus at Junction, Texas, in the heart of the Hill Country; a smaller one at Quedlinburg, Germany; another in Seville, Spain; and has satellite space in four cities; our medical school has opened satellite campuses in El Paso, Abilene, Amarillo, and Dallas-Ft. Worth (pharmacy only so far there). In addition, Tech operates correctional medicine at all the Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities (read: prisons) west of Interstate 35 via contract with the State. (UT, I believe, handles those east of 35.)

Kent Hance is trying to recruit under-represented demographics in the student body at Tech, or so he claims, by bringing aboard Gonzales, a Hispanic and, IIRC, the first college graduate of his family.

I'm with this writer on the subject: It's tough enough to recruit for Tech and Lubbock's reputation isn't helping, but that's no excuse for this stunt.

I won't begin to suggest I support Gonzales' actions as the attorney general, nor will I make a political stance in his favor. Gonzales faces accusations that permanently undermine international and domestic law. However, I certainly am willing to explore his position. Education is served in both success and failure, and Gonzales seems to have experienced the extremes.

His role as minority recruiter for Tech and Angelo State University is a massive boost for the university looking to diversify its growing enrollment. Gonzales' previous work as the Chairman for the Commission for Decentralization at the Houston Independent School District, member of the Committee for Undergraduate Admissions for Rice University, and member of the American Council of Young Political Leaders to Mexico provide a first class repertoire of skills needed to recruit young Hispanics to Tech.

Gonzales provides a perfect example of the importance of minority education, after being the first Hispanic attorney general in the nation's history.

And maybe Gonzales will find his experience at Tech humbling. His first real job after stepping down as attorney general, Gonzales has struggled to find work back in his legal profession. After once being considered a front runner to an open U.S. Supreme Court seat, he now sets his sights on lonely West Texas.

I think he'll find it a little less stressful.

As DMN commenter Ms. Marion points out, he'll find himself among philosophical friends.

Posted by Ms. Marion @ 7:14 PM Fri, Jul 10, 2009

Lubbock is the perfect, maybe the only, place for Alberto Gonzales. It is the second most right wing conservative city in our nation (second only to Provo, Utah). Texas Tech fought hard to get the George W. Bush presidential library (but lost out to your fair city there in Dallas). The majority of the residents of Lubbock believe the Bible is infallible (they never question the fact that there are multiple translations; the one they have in whatever English language version of the Bible is absolutely correct). The majority of Lubbockites love George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbaugh; anything any one of those yahoos says is second only to God. Of course, Texas Tech and Lubbock would woo Alberto Gonzales and then when he says "yes" they would rejoice. Lubbock is an ignorant backwater. Like I said, it is an exact fit for Alberto Gonzales. May they stay together forever.