Rodney Hicks, who holds a doctorate in his field and taught under an endowed professorship, had earned high reviews as both a nurse and an academic. Months earlier, the Texas Tech University Health Science Center's School of Nursing had named him "Outstanding Teacher of the Year." In more than 30 years of nursing practice he'd never had a patient complaint filed against him, court records say. Colleagues praised his high ethical standards. But when the single college student who saw the mistakenly posted graphic discussion reported it, none of that mattered. Hicks said he left his university job under pressure in 2011.
