Free Speech Showdown at Texas Universities: Firings, lawsuits, and a President's resignation

Free speech showdown at multiple Texas universities

Texas universities are embroiled in free speech debates, as recent incidents have led to the firing of a professor and the resignation of a president at Texas A&M, and a wrongful termination lawsuit at Texas State.

TEXAS - College campuses across Texas have been making national headlines, and it all comes back to one issue: the extent of free speech. It has many wondering how much the first amendment protects and how far punishments should go. 

Texas A&M President steps down

What we know:

Mark Welsh met with hundreds of cheers on Texas A&M’s campus on Friday, his last day as the university’s president. Welsh is stepping down after more than a week of controversy over a viral video of a student confronting a professor for teaching that there were more than two genders in a children’s literature course.

A day later on September 9th, the professor in the video was fired for teaching materials inconsistent with the course description, but that wasn’t enough for some.

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Texas A&M president to step down in midst of LGBT course content controversy

The move comes after pressure from Texas legislators to reshape school leadership in response to LGBT content being taught on campus.

What they're saying:

Outrage from republicans across the state, after video surfaced showing Welsh initially defending the professor, drawing criticism from Lt. Gov Dan Patrick, who believed President Welsh handled the situation incorrectly. 

Texas A&M then confirmed on Thursday that Welsh had turned in his resignation, thanking him for his years of service.

Former Texas State University professor sues school

Local perspective:

In San Marcos, a former professor is now suing Texas State University after they believed they were wrongfully fired. Thomas Alter spoke at a socialism press conference where he was accused of calling for political violence.

That video was leaked on social media, leading to Texas State President, Kelly Damphouse, terminating Alter’s employment on September 10th. 

Now Alter is suing Texas state, claiming he was speaking at the conference as an individual, wasn’t given any due process before being fired, and also saying that his termination violates his contract with the university.

TXST student expelled

Dig deeper:

The lawsuit comes just days after a Texas State University student was expelled for mocking Charlie Kirk’s death at a vigil. The student climbed on top of the memorial before slapping his neck and falling to the ground, re-enacting Kirk’s murder, then spitting on the memorial on the way down. 

Constitutional law attorney David Coale told FOX 7 that the code of conduct is still in place for students and their behavior.

"It doesn’t really matter if you’re talking about Charlie Kirk, or about whatever, campus is going to have rules about conducting yourself in a way that doesn’t make difficult situations worse."

What's next:

The student that was expelled from Texas State University has since made a GoFundMe to cover their education costs, where he says he acted in the heat of the moment.