An independent arbitrator has ordered Portland State University to reinstate 10 non-tenure-track faculty after finding the university violated its collective-bargaining agreement in a wave of layoffs tied to a budget-reduction plan. The arbitrator concluded the university made layoff decisions prematurely and failed to follow required procedures. At Texas A&M, a faculty council concluded that the dismissal of an instructor who taught a children’s literature unit on gender identity violated academic freedom and that the university’s president bypassed standard termination processes. The council called the stated rationale—course-content mismatch—pretextual, citing political pressure and a flawed dismissal timeline. Both decisions underscore rising campus tensions over governance, shared governance rights and academic freedom. University leaders now face the operational consequences of reversals amid budget shortfalls and intensified external political scrutiny.