University of Texas System invests $100M in UT civics school: 'A crowning achievement'

Yahoo

09-05-2025

The University of Texas System is investing $100 million in the School of Civic Leadership at its flagship campus in Austin. The "transformative" boost is meant to elevate the school into a leading hub for fostering future civic leaders and impactful change agents, board Chairman Kevin Eltife announced at a news conference Thursday alongside top Texas political leaders.
The money will be used to renovate UT's Biological Laboratories building as the school's new home and create a "statement" building just north of campus, said Justin Dyer, the school's dean. It's currently housed in the Littlefield building, but the move will make the school more central and allow room for it to grow.
Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick praised the investment during the news conference. Texas billionaire Harlan Crow, a Republican megadonor who has reportedly funded vacations for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and donated to the new University of Austin, was also pictured at the event, though he did not speak.
"We've been hungry as leaders of this state to see the transformation and education that the University of Texas is delivering to this school," Abbott said. "It is absolutely essential that we as a state, the University of Texas as a university, that we be able to do the reformation ... in regards to classic education, to classic civics. To say the least, there's been a dramatic departure from those principles and precepts over the past two decades."
The Texas Legislature in 2021 initially established the Civitas Institute, a think tank housed at UT and funded by the state, to foster intellectual diversity and explore foundational questions. In 2023, UT System regents voted to establish a school in which to house the Civitas Institute. Similar schools have been established across the country to restore trust among conservatives, who say are often outnumbered on university campuses and report distrust in higher education.
Abbott and Patrick have taken particular interest in public universities over the last few sessions, particularly in rooting out diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and stripping power from faculty members, who the top government leaders have derided as too "woke" or liberal leaning. An attempt to end faculty tenure failed last session, however, Senate Bill 37 — a Patrick priority bill being considered in the current session — aims to significantly restructure governance in higher education by reducing faculty authority over governance, core curriculum and hiring.
The school will offer its first undergraduate degree this fall, focused on civic honors. The Civic Leadership School offers a master's degree in civics and two minors — one in civics and one in philosophy, politics and economics. The school has 14 faculty members.
Multiple incoming freshman who are pursuing an undergraduate degree at the Civic Leadership School gathered at Thursday's event to celebrate the news. Shane-David Willet said he hopes to pursue a degree in law and politics, and the announcement was "awesome."
"Being a part of the first class, that can be a really special thing," Willet said. "You have the time to make real inroads. ... I'm really excited."
Elia Davis, another incoming freshman, switched her major to civic honors after being admitted to the school, believing it was the best way to prepare her for a career in law and politics.
She picked the program because of "how freethinking it is and how you can think about both conservative and liberal ideas without focusing on one or the other," Davis said. "It's a lot of free thinking, free speech, kind of going back to the old American ideals."
Patrick touted the investment as another vehicle in which Texas is leading in higher education and soon in civic education.
"This is a crowning achievement, and this will lead universities around the country to follow," Patrick said. "We've been given a magnificent opportunity from our founders and today is the day in Texas we begin to claim our inheritance once again."
The institute has been criticized as being a conservative project because Republican lawmakers and donors helped organize it, the Texas Tribune reported in 2021, but the school has billed itself "pre-partisan" and although it's attractive to conservative students, it says it fosters discussion around all ideas. UT leaders say the school was founded on free speech and free inquiry, and explores education that is "needed to preserve constitutional democracy."
The investment comes at a time when universities may face a funding shortfall due to institutional enhancement funds being cut from the state's budget proposal — depriving UT of an estimated $38 million — as well as sweeping federal funding cuts for research. Republican Sens. Brandon Creighton of Conroe and Paul Bettencourt of Houston said they would withhold extra funding for higher education institutions until universities assert their compliance with Senate Bill 17, a 2023 law that outlawed DEI initiatives and programs in colleges and universities.
On Thursday morning, Eltife told regents and university leaders that this is a "trying time" due to "serious possible federal budget cuts to research and grants."
"We are chosen to lead by example, to focus on our true mission, which is doing what's in the best interest of students and patients," he said.
In an interview after the announcement, Eltife told the American-Statesman that this investment has been in the works for three or four years, and it reflects how the board's belief and confidence in this school and its potential.
"We're putting our money where our mouth is," he said. "... The board is proud to make this investment, and we're going to do everything we need to to make sure this school is adequately funded and they can hire the right faculty, because our students are going to love this school."
When asked about institutional enhancement funds, he said he has been in conversation with Patrick, who is supportive of higher education, and that he is confident higher education will be "happy" at the end of the legislative session.
The boost is also one of the first major announcements since Davis was appointed to the top post at UT in February. "There is really other no time you can recall where this group of people has gathered before this event," Davis said, adding that it affects the "historical" impact the investment will have on students.
A timeline for construction has not yet been announced, but Dyer, the school's dean, said leaders have been busy crafting classes, recruiting faculty members and preparing to welcome incoming freshman to the interdisciplinary program.
"Crucially, this investment will position the University of Texas at Austin as the national leader in a growing system to restore classical and civic education in the heart of higher education," he said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: University of Texas System announces $100M investment in civics school