The University of Texas at Austin has a reputation for being pretty far left. I can’t say I blame him for leaving.
The Texas Tribune reports:
UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell will leave to lead SMUUniversity of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell said Tuesday he is leaving the UT System’s flagship school to become the next president of Southern Methodist University, marking a major change in Texas higher education leadership and leaving open a job at the center of the state’s culture wars days before the start of a new legislative session.SMU’s Board of Trustees unanimously voted to name Hartzell as the next president of the private university in Dallas on Tuesday. In a press release, Hartzell said that this was an opportunity “I could not pass up.”“I look forward to building upon the university’s remarkable momentum and leading SMU into its next era,” he said.Hartzell is expected to leave UT-Austin at the end of the academic year and will take over as SMU president June 1. SMU’s current president, R. Gerald Turner, will transition this summer to the role of president emeritus. He has led the university for three decades.“Dr. Hartzell is a well-respected academician and higher education leader with a strong track record of accomplishments that make him the ideal candidate to build upon the tremendous energy and momentum we are experiencing here on the Hilltop,” said David B. Miller, chair of SMU’s Board of Trustees and co-chair of the presidential search committee.Hartzell has been president of UT-Austin since 2020. He previously served as dean of the McCombs School of Business and has been a UT-Austin faculty member since 2001…Hartzell’s tenure has been marred with tense political battles on campus that pitted faculty and students against the administration. It has also been shaped by legislative efforts to implement a more conservative vision of public higher education, such as a ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices, and attempts to end faculty tenure and limit what can be taught in college classrooms. During Hartzell’s time as president, conservative lawmakers have increasingly railed against universities that they believe have been taken over by “woke” faculty who are trying to indoctrinate students.
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