The AHA has sent a letter to Texas State University president Kelly Damphousse registering strong objection to the university’s decision to terminate the employment of Dr. Thomas Alter without due process. “Dr. Alter was terminated for comments made outside of the context of his university employment and extraneous to his role as a teacher and historian,” the AHA wrote. “Such unprofessional and capricious firing will hurt Texas State University’s reputation as a reliable employer and as an institution that provides high-quality education for Texas’s future leaders.”
September 23, 2025
Dr. Kelly Damphousse, President
Texas State University
San Marcos, Texas 78666
Email: president@txstate.edu
Dear President Damphousse,
The American Historical Association writes to register its strong objection to Texas State University’s decision to terminate the employment of Dr. Thomas Alter without due process. The university’s action sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the principles of free inquiry that are at the core of the American system of public higher education. We urge Texas State University to abide by the legal foundations for faculty employment in Texas and to respect the rights of all faculty under the 5th and 14th Amendments of the US Constitution.
The AHA, with nearly 11,000 members, is the largest association of professional historians in the world. Our mission includes maintaining professional standards and ethics, promoting innovative scholarship and teaching, and ensuring academic freedom. The professional standards we articulate and promote are cited frequently inside and outside the academy. Prominent among those standards is the right of historians to express their opinions as private citizens without fear of institutional discipline.
Dr. Alter was terminated for comments made outside of the context of his university employment and extraneous to his role as a teacher and historian. This action is contrary to the norms and ethics of higher education in the United States and contrary to the mission of Texas State University.
Tenure is designed to fuel innovation. The protections it affords encourage faculty to continue challenging themselves and their students, pushing beyond easy answers or politically convenient ideas to consider new perspectives. Dr. Alter recently earned tenure at Texas State University, demonstrating that his colleagues, both nationally and at your institution, recognized his significant scholarly contributions and commitment to Texas State University and its students.
The 5th Amendment to the US Constitution guarantees that “No person . . . shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law,” and the 14th Amendment guarantees those rights to all citizens. Despite recent legislative changes (introduced by Texas SB18 in 2023), Section 51.942 of the Texas Education Code and the university’s own procedures confirm that this foundational constitutional principle applies to faculty tenure. Both the state and its public institutions of higher education are legally bound to respect the rights of tenured faculty to be notified of accusations against them and have the opportunity to respond in a hearing before an impartial administrator. This process is designed to guarantee that administrators do not rashly fire faculty without a full and fair investigation.
Texas State University did not follow these procedures. On September 7, 2025, Dr. Alter participated in a conference as a private citizen at an off-campus online venue, with no connection to the university. Soon after, a recording of his comments was posted on social media. In a public statement issued on September 10, the university announced the decision to terminate Dr. Alter “after a thorough review was conducted of the video recordings of the statements” posted on social media. The university has provided no evidence that its investigation extended beyond the original social media posts. It did not hold a hearing. Such a review fails to meet the legal requirements for due process outlined in the Texas Education Code.
Rejecting the idea that faculty should be able to consider and discuss challenging ideas strikes at the university’s core values of supporting the “free exchange of ideas,” practicing academic integrity, and serving the public good. The contention that Dr. Alter’s comments are equivalent to “serious professional and personal misconduct” creates a chilling effect for any scholar and a litmus test for historical research and teaching. It will also negatively affect the intellectual atmosphere at Texas State University. Faculty will fear for their job security, persuaded that their institution lacks respect for the principles of academic freedom. A regimen of defensive self-censorship will diminish the intellectual rigor of lectures and classroom discussions, to the detriment of students. That the determination to terminate Dr. Alter’s employment was made based on comments he made in a nonuniversity venue in his personal capacity heightens this chilling effect and inhibits scholars’ full participation in civil society.
The primary purpose of academic tenure is to prevent the termination of faculty members solely for political or ideological reasons. The right to due process provides equally essential protections for a system dedicated to free expression. Violating both norms has alarming long-term implications. Such unprofessional and capricious firing will hurt Texas State University’s reputation as a reliable employer and as an institution that provides high-quality education for Texas’s future leaders.
We urge the university to reinstate Dr. Alter and to afford him the constitutional right to due process as required by state law.