Politics & Policy
November 1, 2013
Perry and Impeachment
Rick Perry dismissed the ongoing impeachment hearings against UT Board of Regent Wallace Hall as "extraordinary political theater."
UT
Politics & Policy
June 25, 2013
The Supremes, Round One: Fisher v. University of Texas
The U.S. Supreme Court made the right ruling yesterday in Fisher v. University of Texas by remanding the case to a lower federal court.
Politics & Policy
May 21, 2013
Confirming the New UT Regents
UPDATE: The Nominations Committee has approved all three nominees the UT System Board of Regents. The full Senate will take up nominations next.I walked in the east door of the Capitol yesterday with Senator John Whitmire. He asked if I was going to nominations. I said I was.
Politics & Policy
March 19, 2013
Sauce for the Gander
Today was the long-awaited meeting of the Joint Oversight Committee on Higher Education Governance. This was strictly an organizational meeting, and no members of the UT Board of Regents were present. But it was another front in the increasingly tense battle between the UT System Board of Regents and UT
Politics & Policy
February 5, 2013
UT (nervously) awaits next batch of Perry regents
From a statement by the Texas Exes, the university’s alumni association:The terms of three distinguished members of The University of Texas System Board of Regents expired this past Friday. These appointments will be made by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.* * * * If the new regents are anything like the
Politics & Policy
September 7, 2011
Baylor: “will assert legal remedies if necessary”
(This post is a revision that includes corrections from a previous draft.) Regarding the situation with Texas A&M and the future of the Big Twelve Conference, I have spoken with persons familiar with the situation at Baylor, who prefer to remain anonymous. This is what I have learned. 1. The
Politics & Policy
August 31, 2011
A&M’s plans — and UT’s
I spoke with a friend yesterday who is knowledgeable about the situation at Texas A&M, and here is what he had to say. 1. Perry was not involved in the A&M regents’ decision to leave the Big Twelve for the SEC. He was described to me as “not supportive” but
Politics & Policy
June 29, 2011
A response to Michael Quinn Sullivan
Michael Quinn Sullivan has a bone to pick with me. I am the subject of a blog post by Sullivan published on the Empower Texans web site yesterday under the headline, “Texas Monthly: Disclosure-Free Zone.” Sullivan objects to the fact that in an April column about
Politics & Policy
June 3, 2010
UT, A&M could split in football realignment
The hot topic on sports talk shows today was that the PAC-10 was set to issue invitations to six Big 12 schools: UT, A&M, OU, Okie State, Texas Tech, and Colorado. The PAC 10 commissioner issued an explicit denial late this afternoon. An A&M source told me after I posted
Politics & Policy
March 24, 2009
West, Ogden call UT’s “crisis” into question
As the Texas Senate began its debate this afternoon on Florence Shapiro’s bill to limit the Top Ten percent rule for university admissions, Royce West threw out some interesting numbers that call into question UT’s argument that it faces a “crisis” regarding its freshman class. UT has argued that its
Politics & Policy
November 23, 2008
Tuition de-reg: Will it be an issue in the speaker’s race?
Here’s the problem for Tom Craddick. The House passed tuition deregulation in 2003 for one reason and one reason only: The speaker twisted Republicans’ arms to get the votes. Almost six years later, tuition and fees at Texas’s public university have risen by an average of 50%, according to Robert