University of Austin enters its first academic year

AUSTIN – The publication Inside Higher Ed reports the University of Austin, a new higher ed institution founded by high-profile conservative figures, officially welcomed its inaugural class on Monday. The university, sometimes referred to as UATX, markets itself as an institution born out of alarm over the “rising tide of illiberalism and censoriousness prevalent in America’s universities” and says it is committed to “the pursuit of truth.” In his speech at convocation, President Pano Kanelos, who formerly served as president of St. John’s College, described the university’s 92-student cohort as “pioneers.”

“As I look across this room, I do not see students or faculty or staff or loved ones,” Kanelos said. “I see a room filled with the courageous, the bold, with pioneers, with heroes. I see a room filled with those who have said, emphatically, ‘We will not accept passively what we have been handed, the givens are not good enough, we will create anew.’” “We have come together, all of us, as founders,” he added. Provost Jacob Howland told students in his opening remarks that launching the university involved trekking through “rough terrain.” The university is not accredited but received approval from the state of Texas to grant degrees, which allowed it to begin accepting applications last November. Students can earn a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies with a concentration in one of the fields offered by the university’s “centers of academic inquiry,” which include STEM, arts and letters, and economics, politics and history. The university currently employs about 20 faculty members, with no tenure system. Tuition is $32,000 per year. On convocation day, students met with Governor Greg Abbott at the Texas state capitol. Then, in a hotel ballroom near campus, students decked out in dark-blue robes each signed the register to officially enroll, receiving a copy of The Odyssey, Kanelos told Inside Higher Ed. He said the incoming class comes from at least two dozen states. And some of the students are familiar faces from high school programs UATX ran in various cities—including Austin, Los Angeles, Denver, Miami and Washington—before the university’s launch, according to the website.