Alabama Supermajority Follows Orbán Playbook on Public Universities

“Public education at all levels is under attack. Removing the shared governance of a university by removing a faculty senate will have long-term negative effects for the faculty, the students, and the communities they serve.” -- Dr. Debra Moriarity, Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences, The University of Alabama in Huntsville.

MADISON, Alabama – Hanu Karlapalem, Democratic nominee for Alabama House District 4, today called on voters to end the Alabama Republican supermajority’s authoritarian assault on public universities, citing Auburn University’s dissolution of its faculty senate as the latest evidence of a pattern straight from the playbook of Viktor Orbán in Hungary.

Board of Trustees of Auburn dissolved the University Senate on June 5. No law required it. Auburn was specifically protected from the legislature’s reach under the Alabama Constitution. The board chose to act anyway.

Dr. Virginia A. Davis, Auburn University Senate Chair said at the June 5 meeting that faculty learned of the proposed changes just 24 hours before the vote. “Whenever you want to do something or make a policy, you really need the input of people who are living that role. My concern here today is that the faculty did not really get a chance to give that input,” Dr. Davis said. “I’m concerned it will have adverse consequences for research, teaching and service.” Davis said.

“Auburn’s Board of Trustees could not be ordered to do this. They chose to. That is what happens when political appointees run your universities. The law does not even have to compel them. They do it willingly,” Karlapalem said. “This is not an isolated incident. This is a pattern. And Parker Moore and his supermajority in Montgomery are part of it.”

Parker Moore voted YES on HB 580, stripping faculty voices from every public four-year university in Alabama not protected by the state constitution. Not one Republican voted no. He voted yes with every single one of them, the same representative who says constituents’ emails go to his spam folder, who has refused three debate challenges across all three counties of District 4, and who poses for photo ops and ribbon cuttings in public school hallways while voting to strip academic freedom from our universities.

Parker Moore also voted YES on the CHOOSE Act, redirecting $250 million from public schools to private school vouchers with no accountability. “CHOOSE Act. HB 580. Auburn’s board acting on its own. This is not coincidence. This is a pattern. The supermajority declared war on public education,” Karlapalem said.

Karlapalem drew a direct parallel to Hungary, where Viktor Orbán spent over a decade handing public universities to his political allies and appointing loyalists with lifetime terms to run them.

“Auburn’s board did not need a decade. They needed one meeting,” Karlapalem said. “The people of Hungary voted Orbán out. Alabama voters can do the same on November 3rd by voting the supermajority out of power.”

Dr. Debra Moriarity, Professor Emerita of Biological Sciences and former Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences, former Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and former Associate Dean of the College of Science at UAH, and current President of Madison County Democratic Women, shared with Hanu her concerns about the state of public education Tuesday evening at the 57th JFK Scholarship Banquet hosted by Madison County Democratic Women, where Italia Coke, 2026 graduate of Huntsville High School, and Mya Western, 2026 graduate of Madison Academy, received scholarships.

“Public education at all levels, K through college, is under attack. Decreased funding certainly has had a negative impact. But removing the shared governance of a university by removing a faculty senate will have long-term negative effects for the faculty, the students, and the communities they serve,” said Dr. Moriarity.

“The answer is not more political appointees. The answer is structural independence, universities accountable to scholars and students, not to whoever won the last election. As your representative, I will fight to protect academic freedom and shared faculty governance at every public university in North Alabama,” Karlapalem said.

Karlapalem noted that Hungary’s voters recently removed Orbán from power after over a decade of political control over public institutions. “Alabama voters can do the same on November 3rd by voting the supermajority out of power,” Karlapalem said.

“Every decent Alabamian should be outraged. The supermajority hides behind deflections, distractions, and division. Don’t let them get away with it. They don’t care about the affordability crisis crushing North Alabama families. Public universities are not political prizes,” Karlapalem said.

Karlapalem issued a direct call to alumni groups at his alma mater UAH and across the University of Alabama system. “Auburn was protected by the Alabama Constitution and chose to act anyway. UAH and the entire University of Alabama system are also constitutionally protected. I am calling on alumni, faculty, and students to make clear to the Board of Trustees at UA that constitutional protection is not a license to dismantle shared governance. It is a responsibility. Do not emulate Auburn. Protect your faculty senate. Protect academic freedom. The eyes of Alabama are watching,” Karlapalem said.

We will defeat the Republican supermajority on November 3 and build an Alabama we can afford – lower costs, stronger public schools, real healthcare. Hanu will continue to fight for every Alabamian, by birth or by choice.

— Hanu Karlapalem, Democratic Nominee, Alabama State House District 4

Hanu Karlapalem is a Madison, Alabama resident of 26 years, small technology business owner, UAH M.S. graduate, and Life Member and former Second Vice President of the Limestone County NAACP.

He has been on the frontlines fighting against hate and bigotry, for voting rights and freedoms, and to protect our democracy and the Constitution. He has been married for 31 years and has deep roots in the North Alabama community through civic, professional, and community service. He is the Democratic nominee for Alabama State House District 4 in the November 3, 2026, general election.

For more information: https://www.hanu4alabama.com