UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS-AUSTIN

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.

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.

UT-San Antonio is the fifth public university in Texas to achieve Texas Tier One status.

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.

About $1 billion will go to support students, as the cost of living in Austin skyrockets.

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.

It was another historic, news-filled year. As you get ready for 2022, check out these memorable articles The Texas Tribune published in 2021.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Proposals obtained by The Texas Tribune indicate the institute would be “dedicated to the study and teaching of individual liberty, limited government, private enterprise and free markets.”

Jay Hartzell said the switch to the Southeastern Conference was the best thing for UT-Austin’s student athletes and the university. Texas senators expressed disdain for the move and questioned how it came about.

The judge found that the group behind the suit had essentially brought the same claims in a previous case in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the University of Texas at Austin’s policy.

The university is seeking to leave the Big 12 along with the University of Oklahoma, a move that would have wide-ranging impact on Texas college athletics.

The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Oklahoma are expected to leave the Big 12 for the Southeastern Conference. The move throws the athletics future of several other Texas schools into uncertainty.