Two high-profile campus personnel disputes surfaced this week as state politics collided with faculty governance. At the University of Arkansas administrators moved to remove Shirin Saeidi from a directorship and pursue termination of a tenured professor over public statements on Israel and Iran; Saeidi says she will fight the action. In Oklahoma, faculty are demanding clarity after a graduate teaching assistant was placed on administrative leave following a viral grading dispute, prompting campus-wide questions about protections from political harassment. Both cases underscore increasing political pressure on campus personnel decisions and the governance challenge for university leaders: balancing free-speech and academic freedom protections with donor, legislative and public demands. Faculty governance bodies and counsel are now asking for clearer discipline policies, documented processes and stronger board-level oversight to ensure decisions comply with tenure protections and due process. Trustees and legal teams should prepare for litigation, public scrutiny, and potential legislative intervention tied to such personnel actions.