This story originally ran in the Trinitonian, Trinity University’s student-run newspaper. You can read other Trinitonian content or support the publication at trinitonian.com.
After nearly nine years at Trinity University, Sajida Jalalzai, an assistant professor of religion hired on the tenure track, is leaving this May.
Provost Megan Mustain and President Vanessa Beasley denied Jalalzai tenure in February 2025, overriding unanimous recommendations from the San Antonio-based liberal arts school’s Department of Religion and the Promotion and Tenure (P&T) Commission.
Though Beasley cited issues with scholarship in her denial letter, Jalalzai and other faculty argue that the rationale is unfounded. Instead, Jalalzai and her attorney, University of Houston Law Center Professor Lonny Hoffman, argue the denial was a pretext for unlawful discrimination and retaliation — in part for her statements on Israel-Palestine both at on-campus events and on social media.
Jalalzai’s denial marks the latest flashpoint in a national reckoning over how universities handle on-campus speech on the Gaza conflict. Her colleagues and legal counsel argue that she was targeted for her public comments on the conflict, a change that, if proven, could place Trinity among a growing list of institutions accused of suppressing free speech after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel.
Shortly after the initial denial, P&T reaffirmed its original recommendation for tenure in March 2025, and Jalalzai appealed the president and provost’s decision. Neither Jalalzai’s appeal nor the P&T’s recommendation resulted in a reversal of the president’s decision, and without that, Jalalzai said, she has no other option but to sue.
Jalalzai submitted her final tenure application to be considered on Sept. 3, 2024. Jalalzai, Hoffman and philosophy professor Judith Norman all said this is the first they have seen a provost and president reverse unanimous recommendations for a tenure applicant.
“If someone had serious concerns, don’t you think it would have shown up in at least one of those two recommendations by at least one dissent? Not a single dissent in two votes,” Hoffman said.
Jalalzai also passed her second and fourth-year reviews — formal evaluations used to assess a professor’s progress on the tenure track — with no concerns about her teaching, service or research, she said. These reviews are meant to provide clear guidance well before a final tenure decision, according to faculty members familiar with the process.
“Why didn’t they tell her that in the fourth year review? Why instead did they say, ‘Not only does her work count, but fantastic job?’” Hoffman said.
The cited issues
The definition of “peer-reviewed” is at the center of Jalalzai’s tenure denial. To earn tenure, professors must demonstrate strength in teaching, service and scholarship, according to Trinity’s Faculty Handbook. Though the requirements are different in each department, candidates in the Department of Religion must publish a book or three peer-reviewed articles or book chapters to fulfill proof of scholarship.
Beasley and Mustain declined the Trinitonian’s request for comment. However, the Trinitonian obtained Beasley’s denial letter from Feb. 28, 2025. In the document, she didn’t contest Jalalzai’s teaching and service, but wrote that her scholarship didn’t meet the religion department’s stated criteria.
Two of Jalalzai’s submitted works were chapters in edited volumes, which Beasley argued did not qualify as peer-reviewed, since the reviews were not double-blind, she stated.
In double-blind reviews, both authors and reviewers of academic works remain anonymous to each other in a bid to eliminate bias based on reputation, institution and other factors. Meanwhile, an edited volume is typically is a collection of scholarly essays tied together by a common theme.
In the letter, Beasley wrote that “the same individual who issued the invitation served as the sole reviewer of the work,” concluding that “simply stated, there is no peer review.”
One of Jalalzai’s articles was published in The Routledge Handbook of Islam and Gender and edited by Justine Howe, assistant professor of religious studies at Case Western Reserve University. Beasley’s letter states that, in private correspondence with Sarah Pinnock, professor and chair of the religion department, Howe said Jalalzai’s article did not undergo peer review. Howe later signed a letter in support of Jalalzai, but declined comment for this article.
However, Jalalzai said she believes Howe was referring to the classification of the peer review.
“My guess would be that she admitted that it wasn’t double-blind peer reviewed,” Jalalzai said. “I think that the biggest issue is that there’s been a conflation between peer review and double-blind peer review.”
Jalalzai and her attorney argued that the Department of Religion’s criteria don’t specifically require double-blind review, adding that invited chapters in edited volumes are commonly reviewed and accepted within the field. They also pointed to departments such as mathematics that require specific types of peer review, arguing that if the religion department had required double-blind peer review, it would be clear.
In addition, the Department of Religion’s criteria state that substantive essays in anthologies and edited volumes should be listed as primary evidence of scholarship.
“What’s awesome about this case is how utterly and obviously not believable the [administration’s] reasoning is,” Hoffman said. “Why can’t she rely on the department’s written standards that recognize the very thing she did as counting toward tenure?”
Aside from Jalalzai’s published work, she received a book contract from Bloomsbury Publishing and Routledge Press in 2022, which she accepted.
Though the scholarship criteria typically require a published book, a 2020 memorandum from Deneese Jones, Trinity’s vice president of academic affairs from 2016 to 2021, altered tenure scholarship expectations in response to COVID-19. The memorandum, which remains in effect through the 2025-26 academic year, states that books under contract and manuscripts in progress should be considered “concrete evidence of tangible progress in scholarship.”
While Beasley acknowledged that the pandemic disrupted Jalalzai’s fieldwork, she wrote that it was “not clear” the professor’s record met departmental criteria for tenure due to the “insufficient amount of peer review” to assess the quality of scholarship.
Clinton Colmenares, Trinity’s senior director of news and media strategy, provided a statement explaining the administration doesn’t comment on specific personnel cases, but said university officials “respect our faculty and believe strongly that shared governance is a cornerstone of our academic community.”
“Tenure is one of the highest distinctions in academia,” the statement said. “It is an affirmation of a faculty member’s sustained and peer-reviewed contributions to teaching, scholarship, and service based on expectations designed to promote Trinity’s long-held standard of academic excellence.
“In every case, the University takes very seriously its responsibility to apply standards consistently, fairly, and in alignment with the expectations Trinity sets for all tenure-track and tenured faculty members. To do otherwise would be unfair to colleagues who have achieved these expectations and would compromise the credibility of Trinity’s process and standards.”
Jalalzai’s case
Hoffman filed a charge with the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on Aug. 8, 2025.
Filing a claim with the EEOC is legally required prior to launching an employment discrimination lawsuit. Jalalzai’s filing with the federal agency alleged discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin and protected activity.
On Nov. 1, 2023, Trinity’s Muslim Student Association held a panel following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza. The panel featured Jalalzai and Norman as well as Rosa Aloisi, chair of the political science department, and education lecturer Habiba Noor.
The event itself and other advocacy for Palestine through her social media are the root of the discrimination, according to Jalalzai and Hoffman.
“The only time when Sajida’s name has come up as a source of controversy was a post-Oct. 7 teach-in,” Hoffman said. “So, to use the language of law, that creates an inference of discrimination.”
On Dec. 6, 2023, Trinity’s professors gathered for a faculty assembly which convenes twice a semester. During the meeting, Chad Spigel, Jennie Farris Railey King, professor of religion and former chair of the Faculty Senate, delivered remarks about the event.
The Trinitonian obtained a document containing those remarks. Spigel confirmed that the document reflects the notes he made in preparation for the speech, but it isn’t what he said verbatim.
“My concern was that the event was being sponsored by academic departments, which signals to students and the community that the event has been vetted,” Spigel’s notes read. “And yet despite being advertised as being about the historical context, there weren’t any experts on the history of Palestine or Israel on the panel.”
According to faculty present at this assembly, some panelists felt upset about the statement that they were not experts in their fields.
“To be able to have a discussion, or dialogue or conversation before bringing concerns to the entire university seems like a more civil thing to do, given that we believe in conversations and civil discourse,” Noor said.
Trinity’s appeals process
On June 2, 2025, Jalalzai filed a grievance with the Faculty Senate for inadequate consideration of her tenure application. This initiated the university’s internal appeals process, including an investigating committee review and petition to the full senate. Neither resulted in further consideration.
The investigating committee denied Jalalzai’s appeal on Nov. 4, 2025. Though the full report is confidential under the guidelines put forth in the faculty handbook, the joint petition Jalalzai submitted following the denial includes a summary of the committee’s findings and additional context for her appeal.
According to the petition, the investigating committee found that it lacked authority to review the president’s stated reason for denying Jalalzai’s tenure, since the president makes the final decision.
However, Hoffman argued that this shows the appeal process failed to function as intended.
“On paper, in theory, it looks like there’s an actual appeal process. In reality, in Sajida’s case, she has had no appeal whatsoever,” Hoffman said. “If no one actually looks at the merits of why you were denied tenure or at the standards that are used to decide that question, well, then there’s no appeal.”
Broader implications and concerns
Jalalzai’s tenure denial reflected two wider worries for multiple professors: the decline of shared governance and the rise in Islamophobia.
The faculty handbook defines faculty’s role in tenure decisions as the primary center of review. However, Jalalzai’s petition stated that the investigating committee’s report found the term “primary” may be misleading, since faculty recommendations should not be given greater weight than administrative judgment.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) provided an advisory letter to its Trinity chapter upon the chapter’s request. In that document, the AAUP contended the opposite, warning that diminishing the faculty’s authority in tenure decisions would be a “grave mistake.”
“What’s left then of faculty governance, and why aren’t more faculty afraid that this could happen to them?” Hoffman said. “You’ve given all of your power away to an administration that doesn’t even have to justify its reasons.”
Jalalzai’s case also unfolds amid a national climate in which those who speak or teach about Palestine have faced heightened scrutiny, with examples including a Texas State University professor filing a lawsuit alleging he was terminated for discussing Israel and Palestine in the classroom.
Multiple religion professors — from Trinity and beyond — raised concerns about islamophobia and shared governance. The Trinitonian obtained a letter addressed to Beasley from dozens of scholars who are members of the American Academy of Religion. Signatories wrote that denying tenure despite unanimous faculty support raises “serious concerns about due process and equity, as well as discrimination and academic freedom.”
For some faculty at Trinity, that context shapes how Jalalzai’s case is understood. Noor said that for those familiar with Islamophobia and political pressure around Palestine, the situation feels familiar.
At Trinity, faculty said the implications extend beyond a single tenure decision. Philosophy professor Norman said Jalalzai had an “immeasurable impact” on campus, mentoring not only Muslim students but others working to build a more inclusive community. She warned that the decision could have lasting consequences for faculty morale and trust in the tenure system.
“Early career faculty need to know that there is a rational path to tenure,” Norman wrote in an email. “Dr. Jalalzai’s case proves that this is not true.”
Trinitonian Editor-in-Chief Samara Gerstle and News Editor Adom Richards also contributed to this piece.
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