What is UT doing in the business of real estate development? All universities must dabble in real estate to the extent that they occupy buildings and need to locate those buildings on land. But constructing and managing large tracts of apartments for the sole purpose of generating money — how is this an educational purpose?
UT came into possession of a large tract of what was then an undeveloped part of Austin. Colonel Brackenridge, a true believer in education, wanted to relocate UT from the original 40 Acres to the larger, more rural riverside site.
Over the past 100 years, the Brackenridge Tract has served mostly educational purposes for which Col. Brackenridge would be pleased — from graduate student housing to the world-renowned Brackenridge Field Lab to Lions Municipal Golf Course (Muny).
Muny served a crucial role in breaking down racial barriers as the first integrated golf course in the South, according to current scholarship supported by the Texas Historical Commission.
The Brackenridge Tract, once used for true education, has now been taken over by the construction of residential and retail stores at both the east and west ends of the Tract. But more important, and now cause for public evaluation, was the sale of part of the tract in the early 1990s — the part on the other side of Lady Bird Lake off Stratford Drive — to real estate developers who built multimillion dollar homes. This action is indicative of the UT Board of Regents going astray in their interpretative stretching of the meaning of the phase “for educational purpose.”
It now appears the board is utilizing this directive to encompass any commercial development which eventually brings in money that may then be used to pay for UT expenses, regardless of the impact on local communities. For that matter, it would be interesting to hear from the board how the money from that previous sale to high-end developers was used for educational purposes.
But in the time since Brackenridge gave his gift, the University and Austin have grown together. As UT has expanded over the past century, so has Austin.
When I arrived in Austin in the fall of 1969 as a freshman, you could tell when summer came. Most students were gone, so there was a noticeable drop in traffic and other activity in Austin. Austin had indeed become a college town.
Now, the UT student population, though an extremely vital part of the Austin community, has become a relatively small percentage of the city’s total population. UT’s influence on Austin, however, has become more undeniable with time and with its hold on the Brackenridge Tract. The Tract’s ability to irrevocably change the character and nature of a neighborhood and, eventually, a city is beyond debate.
The Brackenridge Tract is an essential part of the Austin scene. Neighborhoods surrounding the tract are well established and primarily residential, and Muny is a popular fixture in Austin culture. UT student housing has been home for many of the brightest and best students from all over the world, and the UT Field Lab is invaluable in its research and contribution to the education of UT students. Make no mistake: This environment is at risk for elimination.
Frank Denius, a lawyer who lives in Tarrytown, wrote last fall in the Austin American-Statesman urging Austinites to “trust the UT Regents to do right by the Brack tract.” But instead, I encourage the UT Board of Regents to trust the citizens of Austin to do right by the Brack Tract.
It is time for UT to realize that it needs to remain true to its mission — cultivating educational values for Texas, the nation and the world — and get out of the real estate
development business.
Thomas is a UT alumnus who recieved a BA in plan II in 1973 and a PhD in educational psychology in 1982
