Austin, TX
Texas DEI shutdown: UT Austin faculty members push back
UT faculty pushes back against DEI purge
Since January, when SB 17 took effect, colleges across Texas have shut down diversity, equity and inclusion programs. FOX 7’s Rudy Koski spoke to UT faculty about why they believe DEI should remain.
AUSTIN, Texas – In this edition of Texas: The Issue Is, the issue is the DEI purge pushback.
Since January, when SB 17 took effect, college administrators all across Texas have been shutting down diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
In response to that, members of a faculty labor union rallied at the University of Texas here in Austin, calling on school leaders to stop the rollback.
FOX 7 Austin’s Rudy Koski spoke to two members about why they believe some form of DEI should remain on every campus.
Lawmakers speak out on UT’s DEI division
Some state and city leaders are fighting against the University of Texas’s decision to terminate at least 66 employees. They want the university to reconsider its terminations.
PAULINE STRONG: I would like the university to restore the programs that were lost. I believe they were lost to please political forces in the state.
KARMA CHAVEZ: I never understood what people were saying about what was wrong with it, because all we’re trying to do is make a better campus for more students.
RUDY KOSKI: There are some programs that are viewed to be divisive, where we start breaking people up into compartments. You’re in this tribe, you’re in this tribe, you’re in this tribe. Do you feel that we can move away from that?
KARMA CHAVEZ: Well, it’s not a either or. So, there’s got to be space for people who come from marginalized backgrounds to have their own space to represent their cultures, to just feel comfortable. A campus like this, it can be really hard if you’re a student of color, for example. And so it’s nice to have spaces that are meant for you.
UT Austin shuts down DEI division
The president of UT Austin announced a major staffing shake-up as a result of a new state law banning “diversity, equity and inclusion” programs on campus. FOX 7 Austin also learned employees will be losing their jobs.
RUDY KOSKI: DEI has become a four-letter word. Can the concept be rebooted and do you think it could be less divisive?
PAULINE STRONG: We are a diverse group of people, so diversity is already here. Equity and inclusion are not. We need to keep working at equity and inclusion, and we need to acknowledge how many different kinds of people we have in Texas, how many different kinds of students we have. And we need to work to support each other. And we need staff who help us do that as well.
RUDY KOSKI: There are people who will say, Texas already is doing that. We recognize we’re diverse, and we recognize people should be treated fairly. Why do we need DEI?
PAULINE STRONG: I don’t see that happening outside of DEI. I see the purge of staff who had decades of experience, many of them, working with students to help them succeed. I think that purge shows that we’re not doing what we need to be doing.
RUDY KOSKI: But at the expense of another race, because that was the argument against DEI was that we’re lifting up one group, pushing down another.
PAULINE STRONG: I don’t think anything about DEI pushes down another group. It is lifting up people who have been marginalized, people whose parents and grandparents did not have the chance to go to college. It is uplifting us all.
MORE COVERAGE
RUDY KOSKI: Don’t we already have these protections in place? Affirmative action, discrimination laws?
KARMA CHAVEZ: I mean, well, we don’t really have affirmative action anymore. That’s pretty much been thrown out the window. You know, discrimination is about a very kind of particular legal definition. And it doesn’t get at, for example, microaggressions and the kind of little things that happen to students on the day to day, that make being on a campus like this really hard, and all DEI was, was a Band-Aid to try to make life a little bit better for folks.
RUDY KOSKI: So how do we reboot this? How do we come together, especially during these times?
KARMA CHAVEZ: Yeah. I mean, I think we need people to come together in earnestness. So not, just to prove that my point is right, for you to prove that your point is right, but really, to hear each other.
A possible state takeover continues to loom over the Austin Independent School District after the Texas Education Agency denied the district’s request for an accountability pause for three middle schools.
The denial also affects money that would have gone toward Burnet, Dobie and Webb middle schools, which have each received “F” ratings four times since 2019. A fifth “F” rating would open the district up to a state takeover.
Austin ISD schools expect to see their accountability scores, or grades, later this summer. If Burnet, Dobie, and Webb middle schools receive a fifth “F” each — all in the last seven years — the district could face a state takeover.
Houston ISD was taken over by the state in the 2023-2024 school year, and it has been reported as a rocky ride for teachers and families.
Toni Templeton, a senior research scientist at the University of Houston Education Research Center, said, “Generally, what we’re seeing is a large exodus of both teachers and students from the district.” Templeton and two colleagues released the first part of an ongoing study into the Houston takeover in January. Templeton said, “What that signals to us is that parents are choosing to put students in a different schooling option,” including a neighboring district or charter schools.
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Austin ISD has not been taken over, and the district’s future hinges on the next set of ratings. Asked whether Austin ISD is in a vulnerable place and how likely a takeover is, a district spokesperson provided a statement released by Superintendent Matias Segura on Thursday, saying in part, “Over the last two years, student outcomes have continued to improve across Austin ISD.”
Ken Zarifis, president of Education Austin, also pointed to improvement while raising concerns about the state’s authority. “I think the state will take over a school district if it wants to, and I think that’s a problem, but what we’ve got here is we’ve got some information that I think that is hopeful that we’ve got to produce as far as test scores,” Zarifis said.
He added, “Yeah, I think it’s really important to see what they’re doing now? Not, what are they doing in 2022? What are they doing today? What have they been doing the last few years? And there’s been an improvement, and they’re very hopeful for at least two of the schools.”
A Texas Education Agency spokesperson said that because accountability ratings come out in August, it is too soon to speculate.
AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) – The City of Austin is considering replacing the Barton Springs Bridge, citing concerns about the structure’s condition and long-term safety. However, preservation advocates are urging city leaders to fully explore alternatives before moving forward.
This week, Preservation Texas named Barton Springs Bridge one of the most endangered places for 2026.
“It’s a major road and a lot of stuff happening around here all the time, you know, public safety access, all these things are huge concerns, too. But we think that the historic nature of the bridge is really important,” said Meghan Namour, Policy and Outreach Planner at Preservation Austin.
According to city officials, the 100-year-old bridge has deteriorated over time, with cracking concrete, missing sections of concrete and other issues that have raised concerns about its future.
In 2024, the city received a $32 million bridge improvement grant from the Federal Highway Administration to help fund the project.
For longtime Austin resident Bethani Ragland, the bridge represents a piece of the city’s history.
“I’ve been here so long, since my childhood,” said Bethani Ragland, Austin resident.
She said she was disappointed to learn the bridge could eventually be replaced.
“It was built well because I haven’t noticed anything, no cracking no nothing. There’s no reason to take the bridge down. It’s just more construction in Austin,” said Ragland.
City of Austin officials say the project must still go through the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, review process.
In a statement to KXAN, the city said:
“The Barton Springs Bridge project is currently at the 90% design milestone. The project received a $32M bridge improvement program grant from the Federal Highway Administration, and will go through a National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review and approval process which includes assessment of environmental assets and review of bridge alternatives. The NEPA document will review and evaluate the historic, environmental and archeological significance of the bridge. There will be an analysis of both replacement and rehabilitation alternatives included. The NEPA process is expected to be completed in 2027.”
Preservation advocates say they hope that process includes meaningful consideration of ways to preserve the bridge.
“In our own city, we have examples of historic bridges that have been repurposed for new or different uses. There’s the Pfluger Pedestrian and Bike Bridge that was added next to the Lamar Bridge. Not every case is the same but we would love for those options to at least be meaningfully considered,” said Namour.
The road to Omaha starts now for the No. 6 national seed Texas Longhorns. For the 39th time in the program’s storied history, the Longhorns will host the NCAA Regional with the opportunity to host a super regional if they can get out of a talent grouping.
This year’s Austin Regional is paired up with the Eugene Regional, hosted by the No. 11 Oregon Ducks. Last season, Texas had its best season since 2010 in its first year in the Southeastern Conference, but everything came crashing down when the Longhorns lost twice to the UTSA Roadrunners.
While last year’s result served as a lesson for the returners, most of the 2026 squad was either at other places or in high school, marking a new beginning for many.
“It’s always the most fun time of year, and certainly when you need the opportunity to play at home,” head coach Jim Schlossnagle said. “Welcome to Holy Cross, Tarleton State, and UCSB. Looking forward to great three or four days of baseball.”
Here are some keys for the Longhorns to make it out of the regional round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023.
1 – Aiden Robbins Must Produce
At one point in the season, Texas junior outfielder Aiden Robbins was one of the most dangerous hitters in the nation. For a hitter who has never batted under .300 dating back to high school, he maintained his production in a much more competitive SEC slate.
But in the final couple of games in the season, Robbins has not been the same imposing bat that won him the SEC Newcomer of the Year honors. Dating back to the Tennessee series, Robbins has gone 4-for-21 at the plate while striking out nine times.
The Longhorns’ top-of-the-order bat is also riding a three-game hitless streak heading into postseason play.
Robbins is battling back from a stomach bug that took him out early in the second game of the Missouri series and the entirety of the regular season finale.
If Texas wants to get out of its regional, its best bat for the entirety of the season must get back to his original form. A possible tuneup game against Holy Cross may be the switch to get him back. If not, he’ll have to move down in the order to allow catcher Carson Tinney and SEC Freshman of the Year, Anthony Pack Jr., to be the brunt of the offensive load.
2 – Texas Can’t Get Into The Loser’s Bracket
Playing two games in one day is almost a death sentence for any team with hopes of making it out of the regional.
Texas learned this the hard way: after beating Houston Christian in the first game of last season’s regional, the Longhorns fell in the second game to UTSA, forcing them to battle in the losers’ bracket with Kansas State.
Despite beating Kansas State on Sunday, Texas only had around an hour’s break before the regional final game, and a rematch with UTSA, ultimately in the regional defining loss.
“The biggest thing we learned is that everything up to this point just doesn’t, doesn’t matter. It’s all out the window – it’s a new season,” Luke Harrison said. “We’ve got to find a way to get better as a team and play better than we have all year.”
Texas is rolling out Harrison for game one against Holy Cross, saving Dylan Volantis for a big-time game on Saturday for either a rematch with Tarleton State or against a talented UC-Santa Brarba team.
While Texas does have the arms to win out of the losers’ bracket, it’s a task that will cause more pressure on the entire team.
3 – Starters and Bullpen Must Play Their A-Game
It has been well documented that the bullpen has seen its fair share of woes this season, and one of the keys to beating Texas is to retire the starter early to force them to tap into the bullpen early.
The starting trio of Harrison, Dylan Volantis and Ruger Riojas must eat up as many innings as possible, something they’ve done for the most part the entire season. Then it’s up to the bullpen to not allow the opposition to gain momentum down the stretch.
For Schlossnagle, there will not be much experimentation in the regional, and the arms that have proven their worth will get the nod.
“The guys who have pitched the best all season, they’re going to pitch the most,” Schlossnagle said. “If that means a reliever who maybe hasn’t pitched before the seventh inning has to come in a different part of the game, that’s what’s going to happen.”
While the SEC Tournament was disappointing on the hitting front, Texas was able to get looks from multiple pitchers in different parts of the game. Freshman pitchers, Sam Cozart and Brett Crossland, will be primary options while Thomas Burns and Haiden Leffew cannot struggle in the late-inning situations
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