Texas State University president fires professor for remarks ‘advocating violence’<\/a><\/p>\nIn early September, conservative online outlet Texas Scorecard published a video of Alter talking about the importance of organization for revolution at the Revolutionary Socialism Conference. In the video, Alter said \u201cwithout organization, how can anyone expect to overthrow the most bloodthirsty, profit-driven, mad organization in the history of the world, that of the U.S. government?\u201d<\/p>\n
University President Kelly\u00a0Damphousse initially terminated Alter on Sept. 10, shortly after the university told the conservative outlet that it would investigate Alter\u2019s comments. Hours after the Scorecard article published,\u00a0Damphousse said the university terminated the professor for \u201cconduct that advocates for inciting violence\u201d and speech that does not reflect Texas State\u2019s values.<\/p>\n
Alter later sued the university over his termination, which he said violates his free speech rights and reflects a broader political attack to silence unfavorable speech in higher education. In late September, a Hays County judge ordered the university to reinstate Alter and implement its own due process procedures, including a hearing. Monday\u2019s termination reflects Texas State\u2019s subsequent decision.<\/p>\n
In an interview Tuesday with the American-Statesman, Alter said he attended the revolutionary socialism conference in his individual capacity and spoke hypothetically about organization strategies in resistance. He said he was not advocating for overthrowing the government nor for violence and was not speaking as he would in a classroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t enter my classroom,\u201d Alter said about advocacy. \u201cBut as a citizen of the U.S., I have my protected free speech rights.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though disappointed in the university\u2019s decision, Alter said he has faith legal action will prevail in his favor. He plans to appeal the university\u2019s decision through its internal processes.<\/p>\n
Controversy on college campuses<\/p>\n
Texas State University, a public institution in San Marcos that enrolls about 40,000 students, was at the epicenter of political controversy this fall as universities wrestled with increasing calls from conservative politicians to censor unfavorable speech.<\/p>\n
After Alter\u2019s termination, Gov. Greg Abbott publicly called for the university to \u201cexpel\u201d a student who a viral video showed apparently\u00a0mocking Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination. Shortly after the post, the university confirmed the student was no longer enrolled.<\/p>\n
On Sept. 25, Texas Rep. Erin Zwiener, D-San Marcos,\u00a0said Katrina Meadors, a faculty recruiter for Texas State University, had also been terminated for social media remarks that criticized the university for removing the student. The university confirmed to the American-Statesman that Meadors is no longer employed.<\/p>\n
Damphousse addressed faculty and staff in an email Monday before Alter\u2019s employment decision\u00a0became public, affirming the university\u2019s commitment to \u201clistening, collaborating and supporting you\u201d and promising to restore trust during this moment\u2019s \u201cchallenging times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am unable to specifically address personnel and student issues, but please do not mistake that silence for indifference or lack of empathy,\u201d Damphousse said<\/a>. \u201cWhat I can tell you is this: the decisions I make as president are guided by my commitment to ensuring that the mission of this university endures for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\nAlter said he has been buoyed by the support of the American Association of University Professors and the university\u2019s employee union, the American Historical Association, and numerous colleagues and students. He encouraged faculty and students to continue exercising their free speech rights despite fear of consequences.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re still fighting,\u201d Alter said. \u201cThis is a broad fight for academic freedom and free speech.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy case is not a one-off,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After a Hays County district\u00a0judge ordered Texas State University to provide due process to a tenured professor fired…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4340,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4737,4739,4649,2427,2428,4740,27,29,28,1927,4738],"class_list":["post-4339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-alter","tag-damphousse","tag-first-amendment-rights","tag-hays-county","tag-san-marcos","tag-tenured-professor","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-texas-state-university","tag-university-president-kelly-damphousse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4339\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4340"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}