Professors (AAUP) and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which argued the termination violated Alter's First Amendment rights and the core principles of academic freedom and tenure.
=== Legal and Academic Controversy ===
Legal experts noted that public university employees' speech is protected if it involves matters of public concern, unless it meets the strict Supreme Court standard from Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) of being directed to inciting imminent lawless action. Critics of the termination argued that Alter's academic discussion of revolutionary socialism, without a call for immediate violence, was protected speech and that the administration's action was a politically motivated dismissal for expressing controversial political beliefs. The case drew parallels to the 1969 "San Marcos 10" incident, in which students were suspended for protesting the Vietnam War, highlighting ongoing tensions between institutional authority and free expression on campus.
=== Political Context and …
