Music
March 30, 2015
Here Are Some Professors With PhDs in Selena
Even academics know what there is to learn from La Reina de Tex-Mex.
Higher Education
Latest
51-100 of 132 Articles
The Daily Post
February 24, 2015
Bun B on Faith, Sin, Integrity, and Hip-Hop as Religion
The veteran rapper won’t perform his music at Rice for any amount of money. School is for teaching.
Politics & Policy
February 17, 2015
Abbott Nibbles at the Policy Margins
In the bright new day of Governor Greg Abbott, Texas and her people are strong and getting stronger, but his State of the State address only polished the edges on some of the major challenges facing the state.
The Daily Post
February 10, 2015
A UT Fraternity Threw Another Racist Party
Texas Fiji said the party was supposed to be “Western themed,” which guests somehow interpreted as “border patrol.”
The Daily Post
January 21, 2015
The University of Texas: Home of the Sugar Babies?
As tuition prices climb and student debt rates increase, UT-Austin students look for, ahem, financial aid on an online dating site with a weird twist.
Politics & Policy
December 8, 2014
Taking on tuition deregulation
Charles Schwertner makes the conservative case against tuition deregulation
Sports
November 20, 2014
Is Texas A&M Really Trying to Duck UT in a Possible Bowl Game?
Talk of reprising the ol' A&M-Texas rivalry in a bowl game has led to reports that the Aggies might be avoiding the Longhorns in such a scenario.
Politics & Policy
November 12, 2014
Far From the Madding Crowd
Diana Natalicio’s under-the-radar transformation of the University of Texas at El Paso.
Sports
November 12, 2014
Texas A&M Students Shouted Down a Westboro Baptist Church Demonstration With Yell Practice
The 101-year-old Aggie tradition found a new purpose on Monday morning.
The Daily Post
October 22, 2014
UT’s Football Program Is the Most Profitable in the Country. By a Lot.
You can make jokes about the team's 3-4 record, but $109 million in revenue has Texas football laughing all the way to the bank.
News & Politics
October 21, 2014
The Creation of Baylor
Never has the Waco university been so big, so rich, so athletically powerful, or so committed to becoming the country’s first elite Protestant university. What does its ambition mean for its identity?
Sports
September 18, 2014
The Debate Over What The Mascot For The New UT-RGV Campus Is Getting Heated, Y’all
Residents and alumni hate all the suggestions, Valley cities are passing resolutions to call their neighbors out, and somehow "Bears" is still a viable option.
The Daily Post
August 28, 2014
Are Texas A&M And UTEP Two Of The Top Ten Schools In America?
A new list of college rankings from Washington Monthly puts two Texas schools in the top ten—but not the two you might expect.
The Culture
August 25, 2014
An Opera in El Paso By Way of Bhutan
An unusual production of Handel’s English-language opera “Acis and Galatea” is the latest expression of a century-old link between the University of Texas at El Paso and the Himalayan kingdom.
Sports
August 21, 2014
UT-RGV Has Narrowed Its Search For a New Mascot Down to the Final Ten Contenders
Let's break down the pros and cons to each of them.
Art
June 10, 2014
The Saga of UT and Ryan O’Neal’s Battle For Andy Warhol’s Farrah Fawcett Portrait Has Finally Ended
We'll never know who Farrah truly loved, but everybody has agreed that the painting belongs to Ryan O'Neal.
Politics & Policy
April 11, 2014
Assuming No One Else Volunteers
Recounting a controversial episode from his five years as head of the UT System, outgoing chancellor Francisco Cigarroa said, “I always give my honest recommendation, because at the end of the day, I have to sleep with myself.”
The Daily Post
April 3, 2014
Texas Athletic Director Steve Patterson Is Cool With Abandoning The Three-Year-Rule For College Football Players To Enter The NFL
Patterson's desire to take the UT brand to China and Dubai may have grabbed the headlines, but the bigger deal could be that he's comfortable dropping the three-year-rule that requires college football players to wait to enter the NFL Draft.
Politics & Policy
January 30, 2014
Tuition Increases at Texas A&M
UPDATE: I spoke with a friend and high-ranking official at Texas A&M who reminded me that the Aggies have the lowest tuition of any school in the prestigious Association of American Universities.The news from Texas A&M that the board of regents is contemplating an increase in tuition and fees at
The Daily Post
November 4, 2013
Baylor Sexual Misconduct Policy to Remain Unchanged
Despite the Student Senate voting to remove the language "homosexual acts" from its policy, Baylor Student Body President Wesley Hodges vetoed the resolution.
The Daily Post
September 30, 2013
Who Said What At The Texas Tribune Festival
Greg Abbott, Wendy Davis, Ted Cruz, David Dewhurst, and more engaged in hour-long interview and Q&A sessions at this weekend's Texas Tribune Festival. Here's what they said.
Sports
August 9, 2013
Who Is Johnny Football?
Johnny Manziel seemed like a superhero, the Manziel of Steel, able to leap tall linemen in a single bound. Is he something else?
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
May 17, 2013
The Gene Powell Interview: Part Two
The University of Texas Board of Regents chairman on the fog of war, the battles over higher education, and the future of learning.
Politics & Policy
May 15, 2013
The Gene Powell Interview: Part One
The University of Texas Board of Regents chairman on the controversies over higher education and the future of learning.
Politics & Policy
May 10, 2013
Old College Try
Gene Powell, the University of Texas Board of Regents chairman, on the controversies over higher education and the future of learning.
Politics & Policy
April 17, 2013
The Battle for UT Is Far From Over
In October 2012, I wrote a cover story about the battle over UT. That battle, which matched regents appointed by Rick Perry against the leadership of UT-Austin, has not abated. I’m going to discuss portions of Brian Sweany’s recent interview with regent Wallace Hall as well
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
January 21, 2013
UT Law Prof. Lino Graglia Says Black and Hispanic Students Are Less “Academically Competent” Again
This time to a black correspondent from the BBC, in an interview about the use of race in college admissions. He'd said similar things at a student forum in 1997.
Sports
January 21, 2013
UT Prez: Mack Brown Will Remain Head Coach
"Put succinctly, Mack Brown is and will remain the Longhorns’ head football coach," University of Texas at Austin president Bill Powers wrote in a blog post Thursday.
Sports
January 21, 2013
Book ’Em Horns: November Edition
The latest, greatest crimes from Campus Watch, the University of Texas police department's blotter.
Sports
January 21, 2013
NCAA Smacks Texas Southern With Five Years Probation
And as a "double repeat violator" going back two decades, the Tigers may be considered the most lawless college sports program since SMU.
January 21, 2013
‘Playboy’ Honors SMU, UT, and TCU
Playboy's annual list of "Top 10 Party Schools" is out, with SMU scoring number one for "Best Nightlife." Former champion UT is still in the top ten, along with TCU.
January 21, 2013
Rick Perry Is Still Newsworthy
From Satan to sleep apnea, five headlines about Rick Perry following his Friday night appearance at the Texas Tribune festival and the publication of Oops, a presidential campaign e-book by the Trib's Jay Root.
January 21, 2013
Accused Aurora Shooter Could Have Been An Aggie
In response to an open records request by the Denver Post, Texas A&M releases James Holmes' graduate school application to its Institute of Neuroscience.
Politics & Policy
January 21, 2013
UT Files Brief In Defense of Admissions Policy
The University of Texas responded to a lawsuit questioning its admissions policy by submitting a 55-page document to the Supreme Court clarifying how race factors in to its process.
Film & TV
January 21, 2013
Barbara Walters: LBJ Would Have Loved ‘Pubic Affairs’ Typo
The unfortunate typo on the commencement programs for the LBJ School of Public Affairs was discussed on The View Tuesday.
The Culture
January 21, 2013
James Franco Headlines UT-Arlington’s Commencement
James Franco may have postponed his plans to attend the University of Houston, but he showed up at the University of Texas at Arlington's 2012 "graduation celebration."
Texas History
January 20, 2013
Ring of Fire
On November 18, 1999, at 2:42 a.m., the most passionately observed collegiate tradition in Texas—if not the world—came crashing down. Nearly sixty people were on top of the Texas A&M Bonfire when the million-pound structure collapsed, killing twelve, wounding dozens more, and eventually leading to the suspension of the ninety-year-old
News & Politics
January 20, 2013
Boone Pickens and the Roach Motel
The controversial home of an embattled college president is a symbol of a Panhandle brawl full of conspiracies.
Texas History
January 20, 2013
The Aggie Bonfire Tragedy
What’s so important about a stack of wood? Every Aggie knows that the answer is tradition—which is why, after a catastrophe that took the lives of twelve young men and women, the decision of whether to continue, change, or call a halt to the bonfire looms so large at Texas
January 3, 2013
Community College Enrollment in Texas Drops
Maybe because of a new state law requiring expensive meningitus vaccinations.
Chat
December 1, 2012
You Can’t Stop Renu Khator
The only female university chancellor in Texas (and president of the University of Houston) on her quest for Tier One status.
Politics & Policy
October 16, 2012
Taxes for UT?
The university says that it cannot build and operate its proposed new medical school without a permanent source of funding. It is seeking an increase in local property taxes (amounting to $107.40 per homeowner for the average home), the revenue from which would help fund the medical school. Austin historically
News & Politics
September 30, 2012
Storming the Ivory Tower
For the past four years, a group of passionate reformers has been steadily trying to remake how higher education works in Texas—over the screams and howls of many professors and school presidents. Last year the battle came to UT. And the bombs are still flying.
Politics & Policy
September 20, 2012
The battle over UT
I wrote the cover storyin the current issue of TEXAS MONTHLY. The subject is the future of higher education generally and the threats to the academic reputation of UT-Austin in particular. In the story I deal with Governor Perry’s attempt, starting in 2008, to control higher ed by
Politics & Policy
September 19, 2012
Is Fisher moot?
The case of Abigail Fisher v. the University of Texas at Austin, an affirmative action case involving undergraduate admissions to UT-Austin, is scheduled to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court some time this fall. I wrote about the case in an April BTL, and last night, I
Education
August 31, 2012
Hullabaloo, Qatar! Qatar!
Now that Texas A&M has opened a campus in the Middle East, can it hold on to its traditions? Can the Middle East?
Bum Steers
May 21, 2012
LBJ School “Mortified” Over “Pubic Affairs” Typo
Due to a proofreading error, the program for Saturday's commencement ceremony at UT's Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs left out a crucial "L.”