INSIDER
Jim Davis told professors he’ll share their concerns with lawmakers about proposals that would increase oversight on curricula and hiring. Elsewhere on campus, former UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell criticized the bills.
Davis, who was named interim president one day earlier, replaced a provost who was named to the position by the university’s previous leader last month.
The designations come at a tumultuous time for universities as funding could be cut off and efforts to end tenure continue.
Students at the university created their own news organization — The Retrograde — after they reached an impasse with administrators regarding oversight and the firing of the campus newspaper’s editor-in-chief.
In recent years university presidents have been facing growing political pressures, student and faculty pushback and an increasingly demanding job.
At least a third of respondents at UT-Austin, UT-Dallas and Texas A&M said they’re not sure administrators at their universities protect free speech on campus.
Faculty senates have long played a key role in developing curriculum and protecting open inquiry. State leaders have also accused them of liberal indoctrination.
The Board of Regents is lifting the income threshold to expand eligibility across all nine of its UT System campuses.
The glitch kept the students from submitting the form on time, which put them last in line to receive aid this year.
The current threshold is 6%. The change comes after the university received a record-breaking 73,000 undergraduate applications for this fall.
The new policy says universities should remain neutral on “issues of the day” while allowing students, faculty and staff to express their ideas.
Some students were relieved they were offered a type of academic probation that would allow them to remain in classes.
Some Jewish students see the protests as inherently antisemitic. Others say Jewish history and values make them empathize with Palestinians.
Protests have been a century-long tradition at UT-Austin, and The Daily Texan, the student newspaper, has faithfully covered and recorded these significant historical events.
Graduating students raised funds and took the lead organizing smaller ceremonies meant to highlight their identities and cultural heritage.
The lecturer’s lawyer disputes the charges, and the university’s decision to fire him has raised concerns from faculty over free speech protections.
Many students participating in pro-Palestinian demonstrations fear their involvement might affect their plans for after college.
Hartzell’s protest response has also resulted in condemnations from students and faculty.
The arrest of dozens of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators since last week has left First Amendment advocates asking who gets to enjoy speech protections in Texas.
The arrests mark the second time in less than a week that police have broken up a pro-Palestinian demonstration. This time protesters tried to set up an encampment on campus.
According to news sources, protestors have since defied the 1 p.m. deadline to end the protest.
The FOX 7 employee is accused of hitting a trooper with his camera, but the arrested man told reporters he was pushed and didn’t hit any officer.
President Jay Hartzell defended the response but faculty criticized the presence of armed state troopers. Fifty-seven people were arrested.
As administrators scramble to comply with new limits on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, students and faculty worry more tumult is coming.
The firings come after state leaders criticized universities for not doing enough to enforce the ban. Students say UT-Austin has already overcorrected.
The new state law prohibits public universities from having diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Students say schools are overcorrecting.
Administrators are weighing possible disciplinary action against four students who criticized the university’s response to the Middle East conflict.
A series of incidents across Texas campuses have brought attention to universities’ handling of heated political debates about the war.
If approved, the new fund would provide tens of millions of dollars to the University of Houston, Texas Tech, Texas State University and University of North Texas.
The new medical facility, to be located in downtown Austin, will help expand the University of Texas System’s reputed cancer center outside of the Houston area.
This is the third year businesses in the Permian Basin — known for high school football and oil fields — have participated in the University of Texas Austin program. Students this year say they are seeing their hometowns in a new way.
The system’s board also plans to formally appoint an interim president after Katherine Banks resigned last week following news that the school changed its job offer to Kathleen McElroy, a Black journalism professor, after outcries from conservative groups.
The university celebrated its decision to hire Kathleen McElroy to revive its journalism program. She says she’s staying at UT after she felt judged because of her race and gender.
Higher education experts say universities can implement other strategies like targeted recruitment in underserved communities, eliminating legacy admissions and getting rid of test requirements.
Black and Latino students make up about two-thirds of Texas’ public schools. But they are vastly underrepresented at its top universities, and Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling will shake up an already complicated application process.
No other public universities use race as a factor, but Texas private schools like Rice and Southern Methodist University will be impacted.
Texans who aren’t sure about college have several pathways to well-paying jobs. Here’s how those programs prepare people for careers when a four-year degree may not fit.
Students with disabilities can find success in college, live independently and get jobs with the right kind of help. Here are college programs that provide support.
Students with disabilities can succeed in college with the right kind of help. There are programs that can support them. The programs help them live on their own, find jobs, and make a difference where they live.
Many Texas residents can opt for a variety of different educational programs that are shorter, more appropriate to their needs and often cost less than a bachelor’s degree.
The attorney general’s fellow Republicans were about evenly split in their approval and disapproval, the University of Texas poll determined.
Here’s what you need to know ahead of the U.S. Supreme Court’s expected ruling on two cases challenging the policy commonly known as affirmative action in college admissions.
Microchips are increasingly present in every day life, from phones and laptops to cars and washing machines. Gov. Greg Abbott approved last week a stimulus package in an effort to shore up the supply chain after the pandemic’s disruptions.
The state Senate originally passed a bill to ban tenure, but on Saturday it approved the House’s counterproposal, which enshrines tenure in state law.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to eliminate tenure, but his attempts have impacted the institute he helped create.
State lawmakers passed legislation that would ensure the UT flagship can continue to cap the number of students it automatically admits because of their academic achievement at 75%, giving the university room to accept other students using different criteria.
Rep. John Kuempel, R-Seguin, pledged to defend his legislation dialing back Senate bills that would eliminate tenure and ban diversity, equity and inclusion offices. But faculty and students say even the House versions will hurt higher education.
A new version of Senate Bill 18 scheduled for a hearing in the House Higher Education Committee on Monday would keep faculty tenure and direct university governing boards to establish policies to grant and revoke tenure.
A new version of Senate Bill 17 expected to be considered by the House’s Higher Education Committee on Monday would still ban DEI offices and prohibit required diversity training, but it would open the door for university boards of regents to approve such programs in certain circumstances.
The Civitas Institute was conceived with the help of conservative donors and state lawmakers to lead research and education based on free-market principles.
Senate Bill 18 faces an uphill battle at the Texas House, where Speaker Dade Phelan has expressed concerns with completely eliminating the commonplace job protection.
Demand for on-campus housing has gone up across the country as off-campus costs have skyrocketed and students seek more affordable options.
Texas lawmakers are poised to create a new multibillion-dollar endowment to boost emerging research universities in national rankings. But faculty members say banning diversity offices and tenure would stymie those efforts.
Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, has filed legislation that would establish The Civitas School of Civic and International Leadership as a formal college at the University of Texas at Austin.
The head coach is also being investigated for allegedly spitting on a player during a game earlier in the season.
The poll from the University of Texas at Austin, released Thursday, found a plurality of voters support redirecting tax revenue to help parents pay to school their kids outside the traditional public education system.
Chris Beard was arrested in December for allegedly strangling his fiancee. The university fired him last month.
The nonbinding referendum is meant to gauge student opinion on the divisive alma mater but would not result in any changes to the song. Student leaders called for it in response to a 2021 university report on the song’s history that found it was “not overtly racist.”
Students and faculty will not be able to access the popular social media app while connected to university internet servers. It’s the latest step to limit access to the service after Gov. Greg Abbott directed state agencies to ban the app on government-issued devices citing cybersecurity risks.
The plaintiff is represented by a group created by former Trump adviser Stephen Miller and former Texas Solicitor General Jonathan Mitchell, the architect of the state’s six-week abortion ban.
Beard was hired by UT in 2021. The university paid $4 million to buy out his contract at Texas Tech University. He was one of UT’s highest-paid employees.
Many Texas universities don’t have early-voting locations on campus. And state laws regarding voter ID and registration make it hard to turn out younger voters, advocates say.
High-money donors are concentrated on larger boards, including those of the University of Texas System and Texas A&M University System.
UT-Austin professor Richard Lowery is represented by America First Legal — a group created by Stephen Miller, a policy adviser for former President Donald Trump, and Jonathan Mitchell, a former solicitor general for Texas and the legal architect of the state’s six-week abortion ban.
A Houston family says their loved one who was reported missing has been located after a nurse said that she had been listed as a Jane Doe at a children’s hospital a few days ago.
While the risk of exposure to monkeypox remains low, health experts say college students living in close proximity to each other could spur outbreaks. They encourage schools to share their plans and relevant information about the virus.
The changing legal landscape is raising questions for public colleges about how to talk to students about reproductive health care options and creating hesitancy among students about whether they can trust their universities’ health centers.
The University of Texas at Austin selected Justin Dyer to run The Civitas Institute, formerly referred to as the Liberty Institute. The center raised concerns among faculty after The Texas Tribune reported UT-Austin worked with conservative donors and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to bring the institute to the flagship UT campus.
The conservative group Speech First argued that the anti-discrimination policy restricting “offensive speech about personal characteristics such race, ethnicity or gender” violates students’ First Amendment rights. The university agreed to keep its amended policy as part of a settlement.
Emails obtained via an open records request show two professors who helped develop the new center believe UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell backed off a plan to bring “intellectual diversity” to campus.
Only 15% of respondents to a recent University of Texas at Austin poll said access to the procedure should be completely outlawed.
Many Texas public universities have committed to accepting students who do not submit SAT or ACT standardized test scores, signaling that test-optional policies could be here to stay.
The two-year pilot program comes after at least 15 years of students asking for the change. It will allow UT-Austin students to live together in certain residence halls with students of any gender or sexual identity.
A jury awarded Evdokia Nikolova damages for past and future pain and suffering after finding UT-Austin illegally discriminated against her when the school denied her tenure.
First Liberty Institute, a Plano-based religious freedom legal group, has a registered trademark for the name and said it has alerted UT-Austin that it objects to them using it.
The endowment will increase the number of students who qualify for free tuition and fees at UT-Arlington, UT-Dallas, UT-El Paso, UT-Permian Basin, UT-Rio Grande Valley, UT-San Antonio and UT-Tyler.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants to revoke tenure for professors teaching lessons about race that he disagrees with. It’s a new chapter of an old fight between academics and populist politicians.
Patrick’s suggestion to end tenure at public universities received swift criticism from faculty and higher education experts who said it would negatively impact the reputation of Texas’ colleges and universities.
Patrick’s declarations come days after the UT-Austin Faculty Council approved a measure reaffirming instructors’ right to teach about racial justice and critical race theory in the classroom.
The lieutenant governor vowed to ban the teaching of critical race theory at Texas’ public colleges and universities.
As Texas universities and colleges begin a fifth semester during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students say they are struggling with uncertainty and an indifference toward school and the future.
The decision to halt the study comes after a University of Michigan-Flint professor filed an Office for Civil Rights complaint against the study, arguing it discriminates against children of color. But professors said pausing the study sets a negative precedent that could impact academic freedom.
Richards’ comments in 2020 led to his resignation from his Dallas-based company, The Richards Group, as well as calls for the university to change the name of the Stan Richards College of Advertising and Public Relations, which launched in 2014.
The university's mission is to create a “fiercely independent” school that offers an alternative to what founders see as a rise in “illiberalism” on college campuses.
Most voters approve of using state money to add border barriers between Texas and Mexico. But 57% disapprove of a new abortion law’s provision allowing lawsuits against people who help someone get the procedure.
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Provost Sharon Wood attempted to reassure faculty that the new institute is an investment in politics, philosophy and economics to attract new faculty. But some professors said they’re concerned UT-Austin is allowing the Legislature to politicize the university with the new center.
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UTSA decided to end the six-year tradition because the phrase had become “incongruent” with the university’s values and it did not want to become embroiled in a divisive issue.
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The complaint signals a continued desire among some UT-Austin students and alumni to push administrators to discontinue using the song as the university’s alma mater, despite the university’s insistence that it will remain.
