UATX
TypePrivate liberal arts college
EstablishedNovember 8, 2021 (2021-11-08)
FounderLawrence Summers
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Kathleen Stock
Andrew Sullivan
Peter Boghossian
Nadine Strossen
Arthur C. Brooks
AccreditationTexas Higher Education Coordinating Board
Religious affiliation
Nonsectarian
Endowment$200 million (2023)[1]
PresidentPano Kanelos
ProvostJacob Howland
Location
Austin
,
Texas
,
U.S.

30°17′06″N 97°44′43″W / 30.2850°N 97.7453°W / 30.2850; -97.7453
Websitewww.uaustin.org

The University of Austin (UATX) is a private nonsectarian liberal arts university located in Austin, Texas.[2][3] In October 2023, the university received its certification to operate as a degree-granting university from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.[4] The university has established a campus in downtown Austin's Scarbrough Building, and is scheduled to enroll its first undergraduate cohort in the fall of 2024.[4]

History

The proposal for a University of Austin was first publicized on November 8, 2021 in an article by founding president Pano Kanelos, formerly the president of St. John's College, in journalist Bari Weiss's Substack newsletter Common Sense (now The Free Press).[5][6]

As of November 2023, UATX said it had received over 6,000 inquiries from potential faculty.[7]

In November 2023, the university began accepting applications for its first undergraduate cohort enrolling in Fall 2024, and established a campus in Austin's Scarbrough Building.[4]

Academics

The founding faculty fellows include Peter Boghossian, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and Kathleen Stock.[8] Other founders include former Harvard President Lawrence Summers, former ACLU President Nadine Strossen, and former president of the American Enterprise Institute Arthur Brooks.[6]

In November 2021, the university's website listed Robert Zimmer, Larry Summers, John Nunes, Gordon Gee, Steven Pinker, Deirdre McCloskey, Leon Kass, Jonathan Haidt, Glenn Loury, Joshua Katz, Vickie Sullivan, Geoffrey Stone, Bill McClay, and Tyler Cowen as being affiliated with the university.[9] Writing in The Week that month, Samuel Goldman observed that no prominent members of the board of advisors had yet resigned their academic appointments to join the University of Austin faculty, suggesting that their "lack of personal commitment casts doubt on the value of their support."[10] Kathleen Stock clarified that her role was not full-time, and that she would not move to Austin.[8] Harvard University professor Steven Pinker said that although he was part of the advisory board, he had no plans to teach there; he later resigned from the board.[11] West Virginia University president Gordon Gee said "Serving in an advisory capacity does not mean I believe or agree with everything that other advisers may share. I do not agree other universities are no longer seeking the truth nor do I feel that higher education is irreparably broken."[12]

On November 11, 2021, Robert Zimmer announced his resignation from the UATX board, saying that UATX had made statements about higher education that "diverged very significantly from my own views".[13] UATX put out a statement on Steven Pinker's resignation from the board, and apologized for creating "unnecessary complications" for Pinker and Zimmer due to UATX not initially clarifying what their advisory roles entailed on the venture's website.[14]

According to its website, the proposed college plans to begin to accept graduate students in 2022 and undergraduate students in 2024.[3] As of 2021, the institution did not formally exist, but the proposers report that they are seeking accreditation[3][5][8][15][16] through the Higher Learning Commission, an accreditor recognized by the United States Department of Education and authorized by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board.[17]

On June 9, 2022, the University of Austin was taking applications for its "Forbidden Courses" program with two-week-long sessions in the old (pre-1954) Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas.[18] In October 2023, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board voted to grant the university certification.[1]

On July 6, 2022, the school announced that Richard Dawkins had joined its advisory board.[19]

As of November 2023, the university has raised $200 million from 2,600 donors.[1]

Mission

The proposal for a University of Austin was described by Gabriella Swerling in The Daily Telegraph[15] as "anti-cancel culture" and by Alex Shephard in The New Republic as "anti-woke".[20]

According to the university's website, they plan to not use race, gender, or class in their admissions decisions, stating this is because the school "stands firmly against that sort of discrimination".[6]

Reception

The initial announcement of the project received some positive reception, including praise from Law & Liberty for ushering in "a new era in educational reform,"[21] and applause from The New Criterion for its efforts to "keep that old flame of free inquiry alive."[22] New York Times opinion columnist Ross Douthat saw the launch of a new university as a positive development, pointing out how few major universities have been established since the nineteenth century, but acknowledged how expensive doing so would be. He also saw conflicting forces in the project, including the "tension between the desire to promote great academic seriousness and the culture-war flag-waving that might be necessary to rally donor support".[23]

The project also garnered criticism. Initial responses to the project included criticism of the lack of a plan to achieve the project's goals.[3] The New York Times journalist Anemona Hartocollis questioned whether the founders would be able to "translate a provocative idea into a viable institution" while The New Republic's Alex Shephard described the plan as "largely half baked".[11][20] Jennifer Wunder, a professor at Georgia Gwinnett College who participated in the process of obtaining her institution's initial accreditation, considered the proposed timeline to establish accredited graduate and undergraduate programs to be nearly impossible to meet.[24]

On Twitter, Weiss's former colleague Nikole Hannah-Jones, along with others, drew comparisons with Trump University.[3][12][10][25][26][27] Writing in The Washington Post, political scientist Daniel W. Drezner called comparisons between UATX and Trump University "unkind and untrue".[12] John Warner at Inside Higher Ed said "I think it is unfair to call it a scam or grift, because I have high confidence that the intentions behind the project are sincere."[24]

References

  1. 1 2 3 McGee, Kate (November 8, 2023). "With $200 million and state approval, University of Austin is ready to start accepting applicants". The Texas Tribune. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  2. ↑ McGee, Kate (November 9, 2021). "The new University of Austin hopes to counter what its founders say is a culture of censorship at most colleges". The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Reimann, Nicholas (November 8, 2021). "Here's What We Know About The University of Austin - The Self-Proclaimed Anti-Censorship Institution". Forbes. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 McGee, Kate (November 8, 2023). "With $200 million and state approval, University of Austin is ready to start accepting applicants". The Texas Tribune.
  5. 1 2 McHale, Patrick (November 8, 2021). "Higher-Education Critics Launch University of Austin". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Menchaca, Megan (November 8, 2021). "Coming soon: The University of Austin, focused on 'the intrepid pursuit of truth'". Austin American-Statesman. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021.
  7. ↑ McGee, Kate (November 8, 2023). "With $200 million and state approval, University of Austin is ready to start accepting applicants". The Texas Tribune.
  8. 1 2 3 Kelleher, Patrick (November 8, 2021). "Kathleen Stock helps launch new so-called university with 'forbidden courses' but no actual degrees". Pink News.
  9. ↑ Wong, Julia Carrie (November 17, 2021). "The new anti-woke academics say the universities are 'broken'. But they aren't giving up their tenured day jobs". The Guardian.
  10. 1 2 Goldman, Samuel (November 9, 2021). "The University of Austin has a good hook. Now for the hard part". The Week. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  11. 1 2 Hartocollis, Anemona (November 9, 2021). "They Say Colleges Are Censorious. So They Are Starting a New One". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  12. 1 2 3 Drezner, Daniel W. (November 10, 2021). "Perspective | What is the University of Austin's purpose?". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  13. ↑ "Statement from Chancellor Robert J. Zimmer on his role for the University of Austin". University of Chicago News. November 15, 2021.
  14. ↑ "UATX Statement about Robert Zimmer and Steven Pinker". November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  15. 1 2 Swerling, Gabriella (November 8, 2021). "Kathleen Stock takes job at anti-cancel culture university that welcomes 'thought criminals'". The Daily Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived from the original on November 8, 2021.
  16. ↑ Jones, Sarah (November 8, 2021). "Who's Afraid of Higher Education?". Intelligencer. New York Magazine. Archived from the original on November 9, 2021.
  17. ↑ Olivares, Valeria (November 9, 2021). "University of Austin launched by college critics in response to a culture of 'censorship'". The Dallas Morning News. Archived from the original on November 10, 2021. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
  18. ↑ "Fledgling University of Austin to start 'Forbidden Courses' this month". June 9, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Renowned evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins joins UATX — UATX". July 6, 2022. Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  20. 1 2 Shephard, Alex (November 8, 2021). "Do We Really Need an Anti-Woke University?". The New Republic. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  21. ↑ Mendenhall, Allen (November 12, 2021). "Time for a New University?". Law&Liberty. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  22. ↑ n.a. (December 2021). "The new order: On the University of Austin". The New Criterion. 42 (3).
  23. ↑ Douthat, Ross (November 10, 2021). "Opinion | Why We Need New Colleges". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  24. 1 2 Warner, John (November 9, 2021). "What the University of Austin Gets Right | Inside Higher Ed". Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  25. ↑ Ellefson, Lindsey (November 8, 2021). "Bari Weiss and Andrew Sullivan's New University of Austin Is Already Getting Trump University Comparisons". TheWrap. Retrieved November 9, 2021.
  26. ↑ Griffing, Alex (November 8, 2021). "Bari Weiss Announces University Dedicated Pursuing 'Truth'". Mediaite. Retrieved November 11, 2021.
  27. ↑ Friel, Katie (November 8, 2021). "Brand-new 'University of Austin' launches, immediately mocked on Twitter". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved November 11, 2021.

Further reading

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