Definitely over-posted on Twitter my thoughts on whats going on at UT, but heres the gist of it: This current crises is just the latest in a decades-long struggle over who controls higher education in Texas. In the 1910s, it was the governor vs. UT Austin -- the governor wound up impeached and removed from office. In the 1940s, it was the Board of Regents vs. the president and the president was removed from office. In the 1970s, it was Regent Frank Erwin vs. everybody at UT. Now, its Rick Perry (vis a vis Wallace Hall and Alex Cranberg) vs. Bill Powers. The issue isnt the Law School Foundation, its not the admissions process. Its about who controls the crown jewel of the state of Texas -- the Governor, the Legislature, the Regents, or the President? Nobodys blameless in this battle, and its been exacerbated by being fought against some of the most stubborn public servants in Texas. Powers probably should have left a few years ago *on his own terms*. Hes been a great public servant for the state of Texas, and has done things for The University of Texas at Austin that will benefit the institution for decades to come. Forcing him out the door will have a disastrous effect on UT. You can expect mass resignations of senior faculty, senior administrators. You can expect graduate student and faculty recruitment to crawl to a standstill. Many affluent alumni will think twice before writing that $10 million check for some essential program or scholarship. This wont be a localized problem that blows over soon. This will reverberate around higher education nationally for years. The real issue, the reason why the Legislature has spoken up so vociferously in favor of Powers, the reason why the Regents havent backed down, and why a lame-duck governor has engineered it so a lame-duck Chancellor to fire a popular university president is about control of UT Austin, plain and simple.
Posted on: Tue, 08 Jul 2014 04:31:41 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015