UT Austin Tries To Calm Concerns Over Liberty Institute Center

Austin TX

27 September, 2021

4:03 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX —University of Texas at Austin leaders attempted to neutralize concerns among faculty last week over a proposed think tank on campus known as the Liberty Institute. The university was reportedly working with private donors and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to create a center that would be "dedicated to the study and teaching of individual liberty, limited government, private enterprise and free markets", according to a report made by the Texas Tribune weeks prior. At a Faculty Council meeting Monday, Sept. 20, Provost Sharon Wood, who is the former dean of the UT-Austin Cockrell School of Engineering, reiterated that many decisions had yet to be made about the institute. Live in Austin? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone. The Tribune reports the center already has $12 million in funding over the next two years from the state Legislature and the UT System Board of Regents Wood told faculty she did not know answers to many of their questions because the discussions about this center predated her arrival in the president's office. She was named provost in June. The new provost described a more politically muted proposal for the center than ones discussed privately among donors, lawmakers and school leaders. According to Wood, the institute's intent is to "support and help attract faculty." She said it will be an "investment in philosophy, politics and economics." She compared the new center to a philosophy, politics and economics department at Oxford University. The Tribune reported Wednesday the idea for the center has been discussed among faculty and school leaders for over a decade. Tom Gilligan, who was the dean of the McCombs School of Business before he left to run the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, originally led a conservative think tank that operates outside the normal university structure. Read the Texas Tribune.