r/TexasStateUniversity • u/Ok_Permission2523 • Sep 18 '25
Fired for Being a Socialist
Dr. Thomas Alter, a tenured history professor at Texas State University, was fired three days after speaking at the Revolutionary Socialism Conference. Let that sink in for a moment: a tenured faculty member was terminated with no due process, no hearing, and no meaningful review, all because someone recorded his off-campus remarks and posted them online.
The speed of this termination is breathtaking. On September 7, Dr. Alter participated in an academic conference as a private citizen. On September 8, a right-wing influencer posted a selectively edited video of his remarks. On September 10, he was fired.
University President Kelly Damphousse claimed Alter's comments constituted "inciting violence," but if you watch the full context of his remarks, it's clear he was making a theoretical point about the limitations of anarchist organizing tactics compared to building a socialist political party. This is the kind of political theory discussion that happens in academic settings every day.
So here's my question: How is this anything other than an ideological firing?
Dr. Alter didn't threaten anyone. He didn't advocate for specific violent acts. He engaged in the kind of abstract political discussion that tenured professors are supposed to be protected to have. The only thing that changed between Saturday and Tuesday was that his socialist views became publicly known and politically inconvenient.
This isn't about "inciting violence." If it were, there would have been some semblance of due process, some attempt to examine the full context, some consideration of academic freedom protections. Instead, we got a panicked administration caving to online outrage within 72 hours.
This is about punishing someone for being a socialist.
The chilling effect here is obvious and intentional. Every faculty member in Texas now knows that their political views, expressed on their own time, in their own capacity, can now cost them their career if the wrong person records them and the right people get outraged.
We're not protecting safety or preventing violence. We're establishing that certain political viewpoints are simply incompatible with employment in higher education. That's ideological discrimination, pure and simple.
If Texas State University can fire a tenured professor for theoretical political discussions at an academic conference, then academic freedom is dead. The only question left is which political views will be purged next.
Update: Interesting historical perspective from The Texas Observer (includes a detailed discussion of Dr. Alter's case): https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-faculty-firings-tom-alter/
"The reign of terror brought down on Alter and countless other professors and teachers, the demonization of education, and the Trump administration’s gutting of basic research funding and repulsion of international students and scholars could reduce Texas higher education to a shadow of its former self. You might think that university leaders like Texas State President Kelly Damphousse would follow in the footsteps of Rainey by taking a stand against this anti-intellectual thuggery. Yet they have not."
Update 2: Dr. Alter is being reinstated! https://universitystar.com/33098/news/texas-state-to-reinstate-fired-history-professor-after-judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order/
