Messages &
Speeches

The week of graduation is one of my favorite times of the year. And it is perhaps even more special for the Class of 2024.

Published in the Houston Chronicle May 2, 2024

There is a long, proud history of protest at The University of Texas at Austin. I am grateful to work at a university where students, faculty and staff care deeply enough about community, national and world events to rally around those causes.

Yesterday was clearly a rough, divisive day for our campus. As the push to disrupt top universities spreads across the country, many campuses such as ours are facing similarly difficult challenges.

This has been a challenging day for many. We have witnessed much activity we normally do not experience on our campus, and there is understandably a lot of emotion surrounding these events.

Soon after the passage last year of Senate Bill 17 — which prohibits many activities around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) — the University embarked on a multiphase process to review campus portfolios and end or redesign the policies, programs, trainings, and roles affected by the new law.

Cole Camplese will join The University of Texas at Austin in this role, reporting to me, effective March 11 as vice president and chief information office (CIO).