U.S. Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) won’t be getting a Distinguished Alumni Award on Oct. 21.

Johnson had to back out of the event because of a scheduling conflict, and as such, can’t receive the award. SMU Alumni Relations said honorees are required to be at the ceremony to receive the award.

Dina Craig, media director for Johnson’s office, said Johnson had to back out because she is recovering from surgery on her back.

“She’s excited about, she wants to,” Craig said. “But right now she just can’t.”

SMU spokesman Kent Best said Johnson had notified SMU she would be unable to attend the event. Best said she would be receiving the award at a later date, but that date has yet to be determined.

Craig said the surgery pushed other important events forward and has made it impossible for her to attend because they “just couldn’t coordinate it with SMU.”

“The recovery time for her took a lot longer than she expected, and it pushed a lot of stuff back,” she said.

Craig said Johnson “hasn’t even been to the district” because she physically could not due to her recovery, although Johnson was in the district this past weekend to attend a local church service.

“There was a church service acknowledging some community service that she has done,” Craig said.

The Daily Campus has been unable to confirm with the church that she attended the service. Johnson also met with The Dallas Morning News editorial board today.

Johnson’s name and photo were pulled from the Distinguished Alumni Award website.

This comes weeks after a Dallas Morning News report that Johnson had violated Congressional Black Caucus Foundation rules and awarded scholarships to her relatives and children of her top aide. Johnson repaid those scholarships, but told the DMN that she did nothing wrong.

Johnson has also been involved in a re-election campaign against DeSoto pastor Stephen Broden.