<\/p>\n
University of Texas President Jim Davis throws the horns while walking off stage at his investiture ceremony at Hogg Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
University of Texas President Jim Davis announces a partnership between the University of Texas Police Department and the Austin Police Department to establish a West Campus patrol district at a news conference at UT in Austin, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
University of Texas President Jim Davis greets Rep. Shelby Slawson, R-Stephenville, before a meeting of the Select Committee on Civil Discourse and Freedom of Speech in Higher Education at the Capitol on Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Jim Davis is applauded while being inducted as President of the University of Texas during an investiture ceremony at Hogg Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
Conservative political donor Harlan Crow, left to right, University of Texas Interim President Jim Davis, UT System Chairman Kevin Eltife, Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Dean of the School of Civic Leadership Justin Dyer and UT alum Bob Rowling gather for a group photo at the announcement of a $100 million investment in the University of Texas School of Civic Leadership at the UT Main Building Thursday May 8, 2025.<\/p>\n
Jay Janner\/American-Statesman<\/p>\n
One year ago, the University of Texas System Board of Regents unanimously appointed<\/a> then chief operations officer Jim Davis as UT\u2019s interim president. The former administrator has overseen significant changes <\/a>to the Forty Acres in his first year on the job.<\/p>\n Davis is the first UT president in more than 100 years not to come from an academic background. His experience includes time as a UT student and graduate, Navy cryptologist, deputy attorney general and senior administrator overseeing legal affairs and operations at UT.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n There was no national search or committee involved in his selection last February. UT System Chair Kevin Eltife charged the new president with improving the school\u2019s operational efficiency. Eltife said he had full confidence that Davis\u2019s passion, knowledge of campus and commitment to the role will lead UT to success.<\/p>\n In the last year, Davis has named new leaders<\/a>, bolstered campus safety<\/a> and\u00a0reassured faculty <\/a>that UT would support them amid federal cuts to research.<\/p>\n Davis has also declined all interview requests with the Austin American-Statesman about decisions made during his tenure thus far, but told The Alcalade<\/a>, UT\u2019s alumni magazine, in August that \u201cI bring a different set of experiences to questions that many universities haven\u2019t faced in a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI have a strong sense of how it operates and where its strengths and weaknesses are,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is a place that I truly love, and my commitment to it being special and great is unlimited.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Here are five major changes he\u2019s overseen at UT since his appointment last February:<\/p>\n \u201cBalance\u201d to the core curriculum<\/p>\n Shortly after becoming interim president, Davis ended the Skills & Experience Flags Program<\/a>, a series of UT-specific requirements that every Longhorn had to take to graduate. The program required students to take courses in quantitative reasoning, cultural diversity and global cultures. Former President Jay Hartzell charged a committee with reviewing the program\u00a0after conservative lawmakers targeted core courses focused on race and gender.<\/p>\n Davis\u2019s decision to end the program came after the committee said they supported the program\u2019s value and suggested tweaks to better align it with graduate requirements.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n To determine future requirements, Davis launched a core curriculum review committee aimed at ensuring graduates leave UT with a broad and ideologically diverse mix of courses. After Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination, he suggested to lawmakers<\/a> that core curriculum can teach students to better disagree and empathize with each other and promised in an October speech to ensure there is \u201cbalance\u201d in those classes.<\/p>\n \u201cHas inquiry become indoctrination? Has science surrendered to subjectivity? Have we given in to a culture of asserting my truth, with an intolerance for any other?\u201d he said. \u201cThat is not the Texas way.\u201d<\/p>\n In his first State of the University address<\/a>, he focused heavily on curriculum and his hopes to \u201cbroaden\u201d degree programs. In the speech, he said now is the moment for UT to become a \u201cmodel of public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n Consolidating \u201cfragmented\u201d departments\u00a0<\/p>\n In an effort to better steward limited university resources and to broaden overly \u201cfragmented\u201d degree programs, Davis announced several reorganizations across multiple schools and colleges.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Last week, UT regents approved a new School of Computing<\/a> that will open in Fall 2026. The school will be housed in the College of Natural Sciences. The university will consolidate UT\u2019s School of Information<\/a> into a department under the new computing school, which will also hold the Department of Computer Science and the Department of Statistics and Data Science. UT officials said this is purely an organizational change that will not impact degree programs.<\/p>\n Earlier this month, Davis announced that the university would combine four ethnic and gender studies programs\u00a0<\/a>\u2014 African and African Diaspora Studies, Mexican American and Latina\/o Studies, Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies <\/a>and American Studies\u00a0\u2014 into a new Department for Social and Cultural Analysis Studies. Departments focused on French, Italian, Germanic Studies and Slavic and Eurasian Studies will become a new European and Eurasian Studies department.\u00a0<\/p>\n The new European department does not include the Spanish and Portuguese Department. Asian Studies and Middle Eastern Studies departments were also not included in the consolidations.\u00a0<\/p>\n Critics of the affected programs have argued the consolidated departments should have been folded into larger academic units because of their low enrollment or small faculty size. But similarly sized departments did not face consolidation in the College of Liberal Arts, leading some faculty affected by the move to suggest it was political pressure\u00a0\u2014 not efficiency\u00a0\u2014 that prompted the reorganization.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Davis did not mention politics in his announcement to the UT community\u00a0\u2014 he said the reorganization came after a university review of programs for size, academic mission and breadth. He declined an interview with the Statesman for more information.<\/p>\n Expanding UT\u2019s conservative-championed Civics school<\/p>\n At an announcement Davis hailed as a historic convening of political and university partners, the UT Regents gave $100 million to the School of Civic Leadership<\/a> last May.\u00a0Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick praised the university\u2019s newest school, which was created at the Republican Legislature\u2019s urging in 2023 as a way to ideologically balance campus.<\/p>\n With the money, the Civics school is renovating its new home on campus and seeking approval for new degrees in Great Books and Strategy and Statecraft. School officials recently announced a new program in Jewish and Western Civilization <\/a>with an accompanying scholars program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The National Endowment for the Humanities also invested $10 million in the school to hire 16 new faculty and launch the new majors, the dean said in a previous interview.<\/p>\n Some faculty have criticized Davis for overseeing the expansion of this school while consolidating overly \u201cfragmented\u201d departments in programs that are politically unpopular among Republicans.<\/p>\n A new way to seek faculty advice<\/p>\n The UT System ended faculty senates <\/a>to comply with Senate Bill 37, a higher education reform law that handed greater power to governor-appointed regents. The system left it up to institution presidents to determine the best way \u00a0to engage with faculty.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n At the flagship, Davis created a President\u2019s Faculty Advisory Board with 14 members\u00a0\u2014 a body that is significantly smaller than UT\u2019s faculty council, which had more than 70 members. There is no longer a public forum to gather faculty, and Davis did not specify when or how often he will consult his new advisory board.<\/p>\n The 14 faculty serve a two-year term and \u201cregularly\u201d advise on a \u201cbroad range\u201d of topics, according to Davis, who sent an email to campus announcing the new board.<\/a> He also launched faculty committees to advise on core curriculum and academic responsibility.\u00a0<\/p>\n Scrutiny on gender ideology<\/p>\n UT hasn\u2019t restricted race and gender like the Texas A&M and Texas Tech university systems<\/a> where courses \u201cadvocating\u201d for gender ideology and race ideology can no longer be taught without prior approval. The flagship has also dodged some of the scandals other universities have faced when firing professors<\/a>\u00a0because of their liberal speech<\/a>.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But UT has still seen notable change amid the conservative crusade against \u201cliberal indoctrination.\u201d Under Davis, UT Health Services stopped offering hormone replacement therapy<\/a>, a common form of gender affirming care for transgender people.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n