Thomas Alter was fired last month from his professorship at Texas State University for exercising free speech.
Earlier this year, Texas State University ranked as the third worst college in the nation for free speech. Credit: Shutterstock / University of College

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) on Friday accused Texas State University of “egregious” First Amendment violations after school officials removed paid advertisements from the student newspaper’s news stands.

School officials seized the print advertisements on independent student newspaper The University Star’s newsstands on Oct. 23 because Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa purchased ad space.

Although the paper consulted free speech experts about whether the ad violated school policy, campus officials maintain that running the ad violated the university’s ban on “electioneering” within campus buildings.

“Simply put, the university has no right to deprive the University Star of its independence in advertising decisions or the revenue it would have earned had Texas State University not unconstitutionally interfered,” FIRE’s Student Press Counsel Marie McMullen said in a statement.

McMullen continued: “By removing its advertisements, Texas State has not only harmed the University Star’s advertising revenue, but is also inflicting irreversible harm to its expressive rights. We therefore urge Texas State to immediately rectify its unconstitutional actions by restoring the signs to the University Star’s news racks.”

It’s worth noting that Hinojosa’s campaign purchased ads through the same college media buyer at four other public Texas univerisities including UT El Paso, Texas A&M, the University of Houston and UT Dallas without issue, the University Star reports.

It’s not the first time Texas State has found itself in the crosshairs of free speech advocates.

Faculty members Thomas Alter and Idris Robinson both sued the school this year, alleging they were unfairly fired for expressing their political beliefs while off campus.

Those firings were among the factors that prompted FIRE to rank Texas State as the nation’s worst college for free speech in its 2027 College Free Speech report.

“The overall state of free speech on campus is grim,” FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff said in a statement. “Too many college administrators wield their power to cancel controversial speakers, cave to government or student calls for censorship and limit academic freedom. This report emphasizes the need for colleges to embrace their constitutional obligations wholeheartedly.”

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Michael Karlis is a multimedia journalist at the San Antonio Current, whose coverage in print and on social media focuses on local and state politics. He is a graduate of American University in Washington,...