Identity of Speakers
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Dr. Thomas Alter
Faculty/Staff
OtherTenured history professor at Texas State University
Resources
Additional Information
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Incident Nature:
Lawsuit
Other
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Incident Political Orientation:
Left wing -
Incident Responses:
Faculty sanctioned
Litigation
Title IX or other federal statute
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Incident Status:
In litigation State Court
- Was Speech Code incident
Summary
Dr. Thomas Alter, a tenured history professor at Texas State University, filed a lawsuit in Hays County District Court on September 16, 2025, against the university and President Kelly Damphousse. He alleged that his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights were violated when he was terminated for statements made in his personal capacity and that the dismissal breached his contractual rights as a tenured faculty member because it occurred without a formal hearing or due process. The lawsuit sought reinstatement, back pay, and declarations that his constitutional and contractual rights had been violated.
Alter’s legal action followed his termination on September 10, 2025, after he spoke at an online Revolutionary Socialism Conference. At the event, he criticized systemic inequality and capitalist structures, describing the U.S. government as “the most bloodthirsty, profit driven, mad organization in history,” and discussed the need for organization and collective action to achieve political change. In announcing the termination, President Damphousse said the university had reviewed the video of Alter’s remarks and determined his conduct “constituted serious professional and personal misconduct,” was “incompatible with his responsibilities as a faculty member at Texas State University,” and that comments advocating violence were “directly contrary to the values of Texas State University.”
On September 26, 2025, a Hays County judge issued a temporary restraining order requiring the university to reinstate Alter with pay while the lawsuit proceeded, though he was barred from teaching until a due process hearing could occur. After the hearing and the university’s internal review, leadership terminated Alter again, and this second termination was later upheld by the Texas State University System Board of Regents, effectively overriding the initial court-mandated reinstatement.
On March 25, 2026, Alter gave a public lecture on academic freedom and free speech on the Academic Quad at Rice University, hosted by the AAUP-Rice chapter. During the panel, he discussed his ongoing lawsuit, the circumstances of his firing, and the broader implications for the protection of speech outside the classroom, procedural rights for tenured faculty, and the chilling effect such dismissals could have on political expression in higher education.
