Austin, TX

Interim UT-Austin president seeks to walk fine line between faculty and lawmakers’ concerns

Published

11 months ago

March 25, 2025

Interim UT-Austin president seeks to walk fine line between faculty and lawmakers’ concerns

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In his first meeting with faculty leadership since being named interim president of the University of Texas at Austin, Jim Davis said he’d share their concerns and good work with state lawmakers considering legislation to increase oversight on universities’ curricula and hiring — but stopped short of saying he’d challenge efforts to limit faculty’s influence on campuses.

“You will always hear me say on any topic that I do not want to cause harm to this university,” Davis said. “I always want to help it, protect it, preserve it and grow it. And so where that balance is, I need to figure that out.”

Davis was named interim president of the UT System’s flagship last month at a critical time for higher education in Texas and nationwide. At the state level, faculty senates have become the latest target.

These bodies are made up of professors from each college and make recommendations on academic policies, curriculum design and faculty hiring and evaluation. They can also be an outlet for faculty to express disapproval with university leadership.

Several bills have been filed this legislative session that would require half of a faculty senate’s members to be appointed by university administrators rather than elected by faculty. They would also prohibit faculty senates from conducting investigations or taking any action on personnel or curricula, shifting those responsibilities to the governing boards that oversee universities. Governing boards have always had the ultimate responsibility and authority over those matters but usually delegated them.

UT-Austin faculty on Monday asked Davis if he was comfortable publicly expressing his opinions on legislative proposals or if he had been encouraged to keep quiet.

“I’m not bothered about saying what I say in public,” Davis said. “People that know me in this room — and many of you do — know that I am not always the person that follows all the rules. At the same time, what I want to do is make sure I do my very dead-level best to put this university in the best position to succeed.”

He said maintaining UT’s excellent teaching, research and student experience is his first priority.

“And so I want to start by letting you know how grateful I am to the faculty, that the faculty is the essence of teaching excellence and research excellence,” he said. “We have not forgotten that.”

Davis also acknowledged that the university’s finances are uncertain.

UT-Austin, like other universities across the country, stands to lose millions of dollars if the federal government follows through with a plan to slash spending on research overhead. State lawmakers also continue to threaten to yank public universities’ funding over the perception that they are not complying with the state’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion offices and programs and that they are too left-leaning.

Davis said UT-Austin has dealt with these kinds of threats at least twice in its history and that he thinks the university can overcome them by telling its story better.

“Every different viewpoint matters here. We need to be able to sustain those kinds of things for the protection of education and, frankly, the protection of democracy,” he said.

State lawmakers are also considering banning DEI in coursework and research and requiring universities to use the state’s broad definition of what constitutes antisemitism in student disciplinary proceedings, which critics say will stifle free speech.

A few hours before Davis met with faculty, his predecessor, Jay Hartzell, was more candid about some of those proposals during an interview with Evan Smith, a UT professor and founder of The Texas Tribune, at the LBJ School of Public Affairs.

When asked about Senate Bill 37, which would prohibit college courses from endorsing “specific public policies, ideologies or legislation,” Hartzell pointed out that UT-Austin has taught Marxism for a long time and “that’s a good thing.” Some lawmakers have expressed concern that classes with gender, race and identity in the title are being used to fulfill core curriculum requirements.

“Even if you are on the other side of that argument, say, capitalism, it’s good to know how the other side is seeing the world. And so I think I feel way differently about what is offered than I do what’s required,” Hartzell said.

Hartzell also said another provision of the bill, which would allow regents to have the final say on every university hire in a leadership position, sounded like an “administrative nightmare.”

Hartzell compared universities to law firms in which presidents are managing partners and “the faculty are partners in this effort and there’s a reason they have the say they have.” Hartzell faced strong faculty pushback firsthand last spring when he called in state police to help wrangle pro-Palestinian protesters.

Hartzell was a dean before he was named UT-Austin president in 2020 while Davis was chief operating officer.

As president, Hartzell said he had to think about the short- and long-term effects of taking a stand against the Legislature. The long-term effects of protesting the DEI ban last legislative session, he said, ultimately outweighed the short-term ones. He oversaw the layoff of dozens of employees and the closure of the school’s multicultural center.

“If we hadn’t laid anybody off and let these perceived inefficiencies continue forever, I thought we’d be pounded in the next session,” Hartzell said.

The Texas Tribune partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.

Disclosure: University of Texas at Austin and University of Texas at Austin – LBJ School of Public Affairs have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

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Austin, TX

A total lunar eclipse will turn the moon blood red on Tuesday

Published

8 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

A total lunar eclipse will turn the moon blood red on Tuesday

A blood-red moon will soon grace the skies for a total lunar eclipse — and there won’t be another until late 2028.

The spectacle will be visible Tuesday morning from North America, Central America and the western part of South America. Australia and eastern Asia can catch it Tuesday night. Partial stages of the eclipse with small bites taken out of the moon can be seen from Central Asia and much of South America. Africa and Europe will be shut out.

Solar and lunar eclipses happen due to a precise alignment of the sun, moon and Earth. There are between four and seven a year, according to NASA.

The eclipses tend to follow each other, taking advantage of the sweet spot in the celestial bodies’ orbits. Tuesday’s total eclipse of the moon comes two weeks after a ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse that dazzled people and penguins in Antarctica.

During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth is between the sun and full moon, casting a shadow that covers the moon. The so-called blood moon looks red because of stray bits of sunlight filtering through Earth’s atmosphere.

The show unfolds over several hours, with totality lasting about an hour.

Compared to a solar eclipse, “the lunar eclipse is a little more of a relaxed pace,” said Catherine Miller at Middlebury College’s Mittelman Observatory.

For those in the path, there’s no need for any special equipment to observe — just a clear, cloudless view of the sky.

Use a forecasting app or any online celestial calendar to look up the exact timing for your area. Venture outside a few times to see Earth’s shadow darken the moon, eventually revealing the reddish-orange orb.

“You don’t have to be out there the whole time to see the shadows moving,” said astronomer Bennett Maruca with the University of Delaware.

There’s a partial lunar eclipse on the docket for August, visible across the Americas, Europe, Africa and west Asia.

While most people are looking forward to seeing the eclipse, throughout history — many people saw eclipses as omens of doom. Some superstitions and fears still exist. NBC 5 producer Sara Sanchez learned more from historians and eclipse experts.

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Austin, TX

Austin Animal Services Hosts Free Spay/Neuter Clinic

Published

20 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Austin Animal Services Hosts Free Spay/Neuter Clinic

Austin Animal Services is hosting a free, high-quality, high-volume spay/neuter for cats and dogs now through March 2 in North Austin.

The five-day clinic, which is being held in partnership with Greater Good Charities, is taking place at 11580 Stonehollow Dr., Suite 160. Registration and drop-off begin on-site each day from 7:30-10 a.m. or until capacity is reached.

In addition to free spay/neuter surgeries, pets receiving surgery will also receive vaccinations, flea and tick prevention, and microchips, ensuring that they return home healthier and better protected.

Spaying and neutering is the most effective tool in preventing unplanned litters and reducing the number of stray and surrendered animals entering local shelters. Managing overpopulation helps individual owners and also strengthens community health by reducing roaming animals, easing shelter overcrowding, and decreasing long-term strain on animal welfare resources.

This is the seventh free clinic the city has hosted since 2024. The previous six clinics provided spay/neuter services to more than 6,000 pets. The upcoming clinic is expected to complete approximately 1,200 surgeries in just five days. It is a significant investment in prevention that helps reduce future shelter intake and supports responsible pet ownership across Austin.

High-volume, high-quality spay/neuter clinics offered at no cost are rare, and many pet owners face procedure costs ranging from $75 to several hundred dollars, along with wait times that can stretch for weeks or months. This clinic removes those barriers by providing same-day services at no charge.

“This clinic is about prevention,” said Austin Animal Services Director Monica Dangler. “When we provide accessible spay and neuter services, we’re helping families care for their pets while also reducing strain on shelters like ours and improving safety across our community.”

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Austin, TX

Why is Austin so warm in February?

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

AUSTIN, Texas — February is typically one of our cooler months in Austin, Texas.

In 2021, a series of ice storms and snow storms caused mass chaos and is a winter storm that Austinites will never forget. Now, instead of worrying about scraping ice off of our cars, we’re grabbing the swimsuits.

Austin is in the midst of one of the warmest February’s in the city’s history. This year’s January cold snap lingered around for Feb. 1, but since then, only two days have been slightly below average. Compare that with 20 days above average, with the rest of this month expected to have temps in the mid to upper 80s.

But how does this compare to our warmest February ever? We don’t have to go back too far to find the hottest February on record in 2017. The average high temp was 76.5 degrees with 12 out of the 28 days spent above 80 degrees.

Other years in the top 5 were 1999, 1976, and 1957 with each year having numerous days above 80 degrees. So far, 2026 has ten. Plus, I’m forecasting 2 more 80 degree days. Should we hold onto this weather pattern, this will be in the top five hottest February’s of all-time.

Austin is in the midst of one of the warmest February’s in the city’s history. (Graphic: Michael Crowley)

For some, this heat may be just another day to grab the swimsuit or head outside and work up a sweat, but this has meteorologists sweating for different reasons. We are in a serious drought now.

The latest drought monitor released on Feb. 26, 2026 has 9 of the 13 counties in the CBS Austin viewing area in an “extreme drought,” which is the second worst category of drought conditions.

The latest drought monitor released on Feb. 26, 2026 has 9 of the 13 counties in the CBS Austin viewing area in an “extreme drought,” which is the second worst category of drought conditions. (Graphic: Michael Crowley)

In the past 190 days, two of those days have had rainfall over 1 inch. Our current streak of 123 days in a row with less than 1 inch in rainfall is one of the longest since 2000.

Combine the heat and the rainless days, and you get a flash drought. Opposite of a flash flood, hot temperatures rapidly dry out the soil and drought conditions can worsen quickly. With the dehydrated vegetation, dry air, and above average temperatures, you’re now looking at dangerous fire weather.

We’ve already had several fires reported across Central Texas in just the past week. The Nebo Mountain Fire in Gillespie County and the Cedar Gulch Fire in Burnet County. With this above average heat and below average precipitation, we are especially vulnerable.

But there is some good news.

The start of March looks to be starting off very warm, but our pattern looks to become a bit more active. Our long-term futurecasts look to be favoring more showers and storms possible for the first few weeks of March.

Remember that we are also getting closer to our severe weather season. So while we do need the rain, we must remain safe in case we get locally high rainfall amounts in these thunderstorms and be mindful of tornadoes and damaging winds.

Hopefully we can see an improvement in this drought and heat, but history is made in different ways every year nowadays. Maybe it’ll be for the right reasons this time around.

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