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With the hope to unite the academic and student affairs aspects of campus, Gage Paine will take her position as vice president for student affairs starting August 1.
University President William Powers Jr. said in an email Friday that Paine will replace current Vice President for Student Affairs Juan González, who is returning to teach at the University after seven years in the position. Gonzalez announced his resignation last July and UT administration announced four finalists in March. There were 77 applicants for the position.
Updated on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 4:29 p.m.
On the heels of a recent blog post claiming the UT System Board of Regents plans to fire President William Powers Jr., the Faculty Council passed a resolution supporting the president and his administration Monday.
A blog post claiming the UT System Board of Regents may have plans to fire President William Powers Jr. on Wednesday night invoked a series of responses from the UT community, ranging from indignation to justification.
The report was published by Paul Burka, a senior executive editor of Texas Monthly, on his blog on the publication's website. In it, Burka cites an anonymous source with knowledge of the proceedings who said Powers is in hot water because of his "opposition to Governor [Rick] Perry’s insistence on a tuition freeze."
Update at 5:42 p.m. on 5/10/2012: President William Powers Jr. has released a statement. "I love the University of Texas, and it's an honor to serve as its president. I am deeply grateful for the support of our students, faculty, staff and the thousands of members of the UT family," Powers said. "I will continue to work with the entire UT community to move the university forward.
BEIRUT — Syrian forces stormed student dormitories during an anti-government protest at Aleppo University Thursday, firing tear gas and bullets in an hours-long siege that killed at least four students and forced the closure of the state-run school, activists said.U.N. truce observers toured other restive parts of the country, and residents told them of being too terrified to walk on the streets after dark as the 14-month-old uprising rages on. The U.N.
UNITED NATIONS — On World Press Freedom Day, Reporters Without Borders condemned the “astonishing pace” at which journalists are being attacked and murdered — 67 killed in 2011 and 22 more deaths since the beginning of the year.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the attacks “outrageous” and urged all countries to prevent and prosecute violence against the media and take action to ensure the safety of journalists and freedom of the press.
In an unprecedented decision, the UT System Board of Regents declined part of the University’s recommendation to increase tuition at a meeting Thursday, but did not do so for any other UT System institution. The regents froze tuition for in-state undergraduates for the next two academic years and raised tuition for all other students.
WASHINGTON — The U.S. economy’s recovery looks enduring. It’s just not very strong.
Hiring, housing, consumer spending and manufacturing all appear to be improving, yet remain less than healthy. Economists surveyed by The Associated Press expect growth to pick up this year, though not enough to lower unemployment much.
A clearer picture of the nation’s economic health will emerge Friday, when the government reveals how many jobs employers added in April.
Austin is one of the largest U.S. cities without a medical school, but that may soon change after a historical vote by the UT System Board of Regents.
ARLINGTON, Va. — Newt Gingrich, the colorful former House speaker and fiery partisan, formally exited the Republican presidential contest Wednesday and vowed to help Mitt Romney’s bid to defeat President Barack Obama.
Ending a campaign that seesawed between implosion and frontrunner and back again, Gingrich threw his support to his one-time rival as expected and promised his supporters he would continue to push conservative ideas. Gingrich bowed out of the race more than $4 million in debt and his reputation perhaps damaged.
Scandals and disqualifications shook student government elections in colleges across the state this year, raising questions about the students overseeing the elections and the rules governing the process.
Although the intricate cases varied at each institution, the problems and complaints in student government elections are a familiar scene.
KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghanistan’s president has branded his U.S. allies as corrupt, wasteful and contemptuous of Afghan lives. Once he even threatened to join the Taliban. Nonetheless, Hamid Karzai signed a deal that could keep thousands of U.S. troops in his country for years.
Despite his rhetoric, Karzai needs international support if Afghanistan is to survive economically and avoid descending into civil war like it did when the Soviets left two decades ago.
New information from current College Republicans at Texas leaders has revealed a former president of the organization was not a student when she held her position.
When George W. Bush was president and Tom DeLay the house majority leader, super lobbyist Jack Abramoff was one of the most powerful men in Washington, D.C. Then, in 2006, he was convicted for mail fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion after a scandal involving Indian casino interests found him and 21 other White House officials guilty of corruption.
Less than two weeks after staging a sit-in in the lobby of President William Powers Jr.’s office, the Make UT Sweatshop-Free Coalition carried out a similar demonstration Monday afternoon in the Office of the Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
Unlike the April 18 sit-in, the activists decided not to stay in the office after 5 p.m., which would have resulted in arrests.
Editor’s note: This story is the fifth in a series exploring race, racism and diversity on the UT campus.
A simple stroll around the 40 Acres tells you a lot about UT’s complicated history with racism on campus.
Permanent fixtures of the University’s ties to race and racism are scattered throughout campus. From the representations of Confederate figures in the South Mall to the more recently unveiled statues of Martin Luther King Jr. and Barbara Jordan, each encompass a part of the complex mosaic that is UT’s racial past and present.
Tuition may be important enough for the UT System Board of Regents to talk about after all. Today marks the beginning of the board’s two-day meeting, and tuition has finally made the agenda.
Students and UT institutions alike have long awaited the board to address the issue, as many expected the regents to set tuition in March. The delay led to uncertainty regarding the cost of system schools.
The UT System Board of Regents is expected to decide tuition rates for the next two academic years at its meeting Thursday.
This is the latest that the regents have set tuition rates for the 15 UT System institutions since 2004 after tuition deregulation shifted tuition setting power from the state Legislature to the regents. The delay is halting the calculation and distribution of financial aid packages and planning for the University budget.
KABUL, Afghanistan — President Barack Obama slipped into Afghanistan Tuesday night on the anniversary of the killing of 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden and signed an agreement cementing U.S. commitment to the nation after American combat troops leave.
Alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Obama declared, “Together, we’re now committed to replacing war with peace.”
PARIS — President Nicolas Sarkozy is the underdog, and he knows it. Not a single poll has predicted he will win re-election on Sunday, and leading figures in his government are already lining up new jobs.
In televised interviews, Sarkozy’s on the defensive and paints himself as a victim. At campaign rallies, he’s boxer-like, punching the air, torso soaked with sweat within minutes of taking the podium. He relishes the combat, but after he leaves the stage, his face drains of color, his features lined with fatigue.
MADRID — On the front lines of the world’s May Day protests this year, along with the traditional chants, banners and marches, a gamut of emotions flowed through the crowds: Anger. Fear. Elation. Despair.
With Europe’s unemployed denouncing austerity measures, Asia’s laborers demanding higher salaries and U.S. protesters condemning Wall Street, Tuesday’s demonstrations by hundreds of thousands were less a celebration of workers’ rights than a furious venting over spending cuts, tax hikes and soaring unemployment.
BEIJING — The surprising escape of a blind legal activist from house arrest to the presumed custody of U.S. diplomats is buoying China’s embattled dissident community even as the government lashes out, detaining those who helped him and squelching mention of his name on the Internet.
University spokesman Gary Susswein says that President William Powers Jr. does not want to meet with any of the 18 students who were arrested during the April 18 sit-in because Powers does not want to “reward criminal behavior,” according to The Daily Texan.
Editor’s note: On behalf of the Center for Asian American Studies, Eric Chen, a 2009 UT alumnus, describes some Asian-American perspectives on the case of Fisher v. UT.
NEW YORK — Vice President Joe Biden delivered a harsh attack Thursday on Mitt Romney’s foreign policy views, arguing that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee is rooted in a Cold War mentality and is uninformed about the current challenges facing the U.S. abroad.
