A University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire professor is on unpaid leave for the next school year after flipping over a table set up by the university’s College Republicans chapter on Election Day this spring.
UW-Eau Claire removed Professor José Felipe Alvergue, 45, as chair of the English department in the days after the April 1 incident and initiated disciplinary proceedings against him for potential termination. The university agreed to an unpaid suspension for the 2025-26 year and other disciplinary actions, according to records released to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on July 24.
In Alvergue’s first public interview since the incident, he expressed remorse and said he is now working a full-time, minimum-wage job to offset his loss of income.
He said he felt restricted by a new policy that took effect in the wake of weekslong campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war. The policy requires UW institutions and officials, including department chairs, to maintain neutral viewpoints when referencing any political or social controversy.
“As a low-level administrator, I was in a situation of being position-neutral,” he told the Journal Sentinel. “I wasn’t fully honoring that I’m a human being and that I was starting to have pretty intense feelings about things, and regretfully I didn’t examine those feelings or their intensity until I did something that I really regret doing.”
Alvergue, who joined UW-Eau Claire in 2013, said he was feeling overwhelmed by the election and Elon Musk’s attempts to sway Wisconsin voters with $1 million checks. As the child of immigrants, he said he was also distressed by the Trump administration’s mass deportations.
“I still care about these things, “he said. “But that doesn’t mean I get to go out and knock tables over.”
Investigative report details April 1 table-flipping incident at UW-Eau Claire
The incident lasted only about 10 seconds, but it is dissected extensively in a 144-page investigative report.
The UW-Eau Claire College Republicans had set up a table near the student center in support of conservative Supreme Court candidate Brad Schimel and Brittany Kinser, the conservative-backed candidate for state superintendent with the Department of Public Instruction.
Tatiana Bobrowicz, who chairs the chapter, said a man came up to the table and asked what the group was doing so close to the polling location, which is inside the student center.
Wisconsin law does not allow electioneering — defined as any activity intended to influence voting at an election — within 100 feet of an entrance of a building where voting is taking place.
Bobrowicz said she explained to the man that the chapter always tabled in that location and UW-Eau Claire had approved it. The man, later identified by police as Alvergue, told her “the time for this is over,” flipped the table over and walked away.
Accounts vary on how aggressive Alvergue was when he flipped the table. Bobrowicz called the incident “violent.” A student witness unaffiliated with the College Republicans described it as “very non-violent,” the report said. Another witness said Alvergue seemed “a little upset.”
Alvergue initially denied flipping the table to a police officer, according to the police report. He later portrayed the table-flipping as accidental instead of intentional, saying his pinky finger caught on the table when he tried clearing off the buttons and stickers, causing it to collapse. He recalled the people at the table snickering at him, which he believed was because he wore a T-shirt and pin promoting transgender rights.
Alvergue told the Journal Sentinel he mistakenly assumed the table was run by outsiders because he didn’t recognize those at the table as students. He also he said he saw a banner advertising the Republican National Convention, not the College Republicans. He said the table’s presence felt like an “intrusion” on his campus.
The incident reinforced to Bobrowicz the hostility conservatives face on the western Wisconsin campus. She did not respond to a request for comment July 24 about Alvergue’s suspension.
The May 7 investigative report provided by UW-Eau Claire was not included in the UW System’s June 2 response to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel request seeking investigative records. The UW System, which conducted the investigation, said it did not provide the report in June because it said it was still an ongoing personnel investigation at the time of the June 2 response.
UW-Eau Claire settlement delays promotion, mandates trainings for Professor Alvergue
The settlement mandates Alvergue complete trainings in anger management training and civic discourse. His planned promotion from associate professor to full professor, which would have came with a salary bump, was revoked. He lost out on nearly $10,000 he would have received for serving as chair through this summer, and he is ineligible to become chair for at least five more academic years. He earned $84,707 as department chair through the end of the 2024-25 school year. He also had to write apology letters, including one sent to the entire campus July 24.
Alvergue also paid a $295 fine to resolve a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, according to court records.
Alvergue said the aftermath of the incident was a scary time for him. He said his home address and information about his family was posted on social media. He said he received dozens of death threats and calls for him to be deported.
Alvergue said he would like to see more spaces for people to process their emotions during this intense period of political polarization. He also said he is focused on moving forward, not assessing whether his punishment was excessive or appropriate.
“I can’t stop and try to figure out if it was fair or not,” he said. “I think that just gets into the weeds. Then all you’re doing, really, is trying to kind of preserve your ego.”
(This story was updated to add new information.)
Kelly Meyerhofer has covered higher education in Wisconsin since 2018. Contact her at kmeyerhofer@gannett.com or 414-223-5168. Follow her on X (Twitter) at @KellyMeyerhofer.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: UW-Eau Claire professor who flipped over College Republicans table loses job for a year
Reporting by Kelly Meyerhofer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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