<\/p>\n
Iv\u00e1n Chaar L\u00f3pez, a University of Texas scholar on border surveillance, in his office in Austin, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Amid concerns UT is quieting controversial fields, Chaar L\u00f3pez fears the president violated his academic freedom in denying him tenure.<\/p>\n
Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n
By all performance measures, professor Iv\u00e1n Chaar L\u00f3pez was a shoo-in for tenure at the University of Texas.<\/a><\/p>\n Tenure, a coveted status that protects professors’ jobs so they can research freely without fear of retaliation, is only considered after faculty complete about six years of research, teaching, mentoring and service to a university.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The bar to achieve tenure is set intentionally high\u00a0\u2014 professors must pass a year-long review led by faculty experts, who independently assess each professor\u2019s work.<\/p>\n Chaar L\u00f3pez, who investigates how border surveillance technologies are tied to history and race, was praised by the College of Liberal Arts dean, his colleagues in UT\u2019s American Studies department and external reviewers from universities across the nation. When he went through tenure review last year, they said he exceeded the high bar for tenure and produced foundational work in his field, according to records obtained by the Statesman.<\/p>\n More than 30\u00a0scholars recommended him for tenure throughout the process, pending approval by UT President Jim Davis<\/a>, a presidential committee and the UT System Board of Regents.<\/p>\n But in February, Davis\u2019 tenure committee\u00a0\u2014 whose members are not publicly listed \u00a0\u2014 \u00a0unexpectedly denied Chaar L\u00f3pez\u2019s application. When asked for clarification, Davis and the committee declined to give Chaar L\u00f3pez a reason or change the decision.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Because of an \u201cup-or-out\u201d policy at UT with tenure-track professors, Chaar L\u00f3pez must leave UT at the end of this school year, leaving him to restart his tenure journey somewhere else. It could take several more years to get to the same place at a different school.<\/p>\n The tenure denial bewildered the professor and colleagues who had touted his success in the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chaar L\u00f3pez said he fears the university decided not to give him tenure because of his area of study, which may be controversial among Texas conservatives. He is a professor in American Studies, a department that is being consolidated into a new Department of Cultural and Social Analysis<\/a>, and his work is critical of border enforcement, colonialism and government surveillance.<\/p>\n Five scholars with expertise in tenure interviewed by the American-Statesman said it is very rare and unusual for a president to deny tenure applications after near-unanimous positive assessments. UT System\u2019s own policy<\/a> and the Texas Education Code <\/a>give deference to these independent assessments in tenure decisions. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n UT denied a request for an interview with Davis and did not answer questions about why Chaar L\u00f3pez was denied tenure.<\/p>\n The decision comes as UT grapples with its identity under new leadership <\/a>and faces pressure to limit instruction of \u201ccontroversial topics.\u201d\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n For a president to deny tenure without a stated reason is against common practices and \u201copens the gate to political interference in a way that is unprecedented in the last century,\u201d said William Tierney, a professor of higher education at the University of Southern California.\u00a0<\/p>\n Davis is not an academic; his background is as a lawyer. He was granted tenure by the Board of Regents<\/a> as part of his employment contract despite never holding a teaching position<\/a> at a university.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n As Davis and UT Provost William\u00a0Inboden have emphasized a commitment to academic excellence<\/a> and balance in the past year, they have removed top leaders over differences in vision<\/a>, evaded transparency <\/a>about controversial decisions and eliminated procedures <\/a>that would have guaranteed Chaar L\u00f3pez an independent review to determine whether the university violated his academic freedom.<\/p>\n \u201cIv\u00e1n\u2019s case is a warning for all faculty across the university,\u201d said Lauren Gutterman, former chair of the American Studies department. \u201cBecause it suggests that achieving excellence in your field is no longer enough to secure tenure and promotion.\u201d<\/p>\n What is the tenure process?<\/p>\n Iv\u00e1n Chaar L\u00f3pez, a University of Texas scholar on border surveillance, in his office in Austin, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Amid concerns UT is quieting controversial fields, Chaar L\u00f3pez fears the president violated his academic freedom in denying him tenure.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Tenure is historically tied to academic freedom, or a professor\u2019s ability to study a subject without interference. But functionally, it\u2019s a job protection that has incentivized talented faculty to come to U.S. universities<\/a> since the early 1900s, pitched as a way for the most talented professors to freely pursue knowledge without retaliation when the answers they find are unpopular to those paying their salaries.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Texas Republicans have openly criticized tenure in recent years, framing the job protection as a way professors can stick around without having to prove their worth. They argue it makes it easier for academics to inject their beliefs into teaching,\u00a0leading to liberal indoctrination<\/a>.<\/p>\n But experts say that argument lacks an understanding of the intense tenure review process, where faculty sometimes spend more than a decade\u00a0curating research and typically six years under probation. Universities only grant tenure if professors can prove their intellectual merit and expertise to scholars within the field nationwide, the professor\u2019s own department and their college.<\/p>\n The American Association of University Professors, a national organization representing university employees, estimates that the percentage of university faculty holding full-time tenured positions decreased from 39% in 1987 to 24% in 2021<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though denials of tenure happen, it is rare for them to occur at the presidential level, because typically, a chair or dean would flag missing requirements or concerns about scholarship in advance, said Willis Jones, an associate dean in education at Southern Methodist University who oversees tenure cases.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Texas Legislature recently expanded the ways a tenured professor can be fired<\/a>, and some states have banned the status entirely for new hires<\/a>. Without tenure, professors are less free to pursue controversial research questions, because they can be dismissed without the same due process if those in power opposed to their findings demand punishment, said Barrett Taylor, a University of North Texas researcher and co-author of a forthcoming book on conservative attacks on tenure.<\/p>\n \u201cMost people probably don\u2019t want the powerful to decide what gets taught,\u201d but weakening tenure makes that more likely, Taylor said.<\/p>\n UT System policy states faculty expertise should be given \u201cutmost\u201d consideration in tenure awards. Tenure candidates must demonstrate excellence in research, teaching, service and mentoring, according to the policy. All but two of 32 reviewers determined\u00a0Chaar L\u00f3pez met all those standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n ‘Exceeds our demanding standards’<\/p>\n An award for excellence in mentoring is displayed in Iv\u00e1n Chaar L\u00f3pez\u2019s office at the University of Texas in Austin, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Amid concerns UT is quieting controversial fields, Chaar L\u00f3pez fears the president violated his academic freedom in denying him tenure.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n Chaar L\u00f3pez grew up in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Fascinated by borders and how they are maintained, defined and policed, he earned his doctorate in American Culture from the University of Michigan. He\u2019s been preparing for tenure since 2015, hoping that securing employment protection would allow him to study more ambitious questions, he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n In 2020, the University of Texas hired him as a tenure-track assistant professor, giving him six years to prove his scholarship and commitment to UT before being formally evaluated.\u00a0During his six years at UT, he published a book, won four fellowships or grants and wrote seven peer-reviewed articles or book chapters.<\/p>\n After the pandemic, he started working with professors across UT, helping to connect the American Studies department with other fields across the College of Liberal Arts. He brought his Border Technologies Lab, created in 2018 at Cornell University, to UT. The lab employs undergraduate and graduate students to research everything from artificial intelligence to drone technology at the border.<\/p>\n Last spring, he began the tenure review process, submitting his five strongest pieces of published research. Eight professors from his field at schools across the U.S. and Canada\u00a0\u2014 including a MacArthur Genius Grant recipient\u00a0\u2014 said he met or exceeded the bar for tenure. In September, they unanimously recommended him for approval.<\/p>\n After reviewing his work, teaching evaluations, a research statement and service statement, a committee of seven UT American Studies professors also recommended him for tenure unanimously that fall. Gutterman concurred. A committee in the college voted 19-2 to grant him tenure with the two dissenters voicing some concerns about the \u201ccritical severity of elements of his work,\u201d according to the tenure evaluation from Interim Dean David Sosa.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But Sosa concluded that \u201ceven if one harbors reservations about the ultimate defensibility of some of Chaar L\u00f3pez\u2019s scholarly contributions, there is no denying that he is by the standards of the areas in which he works a distinguished figure,\u201d and that his arguments are worthy of debate.\u00a0<\/p>\n Sosa wrote in an email to the Davis\u2019 tenure committee that he believed Chaar L\u00f3pez \u201cexceeds our demanding standards of scholarship, teaching, mentoring, and service.\u201d Sosa described the professor as a leading scholar who advances \u201cfoundational debates\u201d in multiple fields and reflects a \u201cmoving\u201d commitment to the field.<\/p>\n In February, a committee overseen by Davis, whose members are not public, denied the application. When Sosa called Gutterman to tell him, she was shocked. When she and Chaar L\u00f3pez asked Sosa for a reason, the liberal arts dean said he didn\u2019t know why.<\/p>\n Can the president deny tenure?\u00a0<\/p>\n Five tenure experts said it is rare for a president\u2019s decision to conflict with the official recommendations of tenure reviewers, who are trained to evaluate the merit of a peer\u2019s case.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s even more rare for a president to deny tenure without explaining the decision, said Michael\u00a0DeCesare, senior program officer in the Department of Academic Freedom, Tenure and Governance at the American Association of University Professors.<\/p>\n Typically, if there is a problem, the president would go back to the dean or professor seeking tenure and ask for clarification or defer to other university processes to investigate the discrepancy. In an \u201cextraordinary\u201d case where a president does deny tenure, there would be back-and-forth discussions with the administrator and faculty experts to discuss concerns, DeCesare said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen no reason is given, any reason is possible, and that\u2019s our concern,\u201d DeCesare said. \u00a0<\/p>\n UT\u2019s policy<\/a> states the tenure appointment \u201cmust be in the best interest\u201d of the university\u00a0\u2014 a phrase that gives administrators broad discretion. Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cUniversities, like most employers in most contexts, are entitled to make decisions about what they want to focus on and where they want to direct their resources,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Days after Chaar L\u00f3pez received the decision, UT regents limited how professors can address controversial topics<\/a> without defining what \u201ccontroversial topics\u201d means. A week before that, Davis announced that the American Studies department would be folded in with gender and ethnic studies departments<\/a> into a new Department of Social and Cultural Analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n ‘We\u2019re trying to get at what is the truth’<\/p>\n Iv\u00e1n Chaar L\u00f3pez, a University of Texas scholar on border surveillance, in his office in Austin, Wednesday, July 15, 2026. Amid concerns UT is quieting controversial fields, Chaar L\u00f3pez fears the president violated his academic freedom in denying him tenure.<\/p>\n Mikala Compton\/Austin American-Statesman<\/p>\n National educational groups, including the AAUP, and colleagues privately wrote letters urging Davis to reconsider his decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Previously, Chaar L\u00f3pez could have appealed the decision through the Faculty Council\u2019s academic freedom committee, which was comprised of seven elected members. But after the UT System eliminated faculty councils in compliance with a new state law, Chaar\u00a0L\u00f3pez\u2019s only recourse was the faculty committees appointed by Davis.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chaar L\u00f3pez submitted an appeal to the president\u2019s procedural review committee, which denied his claim, and submitted final arguments to Davis. Both were denied, according to an email from Sosa.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Chaar L\u00f3pez received the denials, he felt every emotion. He had built a community at UT, relationships with students and colleagues. His peers had validated his work.\u00a0<\/p>\n The rejection felt heavy and unjust, he said, as did the university\u2019s glib denial, delivered in a short email from his college dean.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve done so much for its students, for its community, and there\u2019s no recognition of that at all,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Chaar L\u00f3pez is now pursuing a formal grievance arguing that Davis violated his academic freedom. His complaint will be heard by a panel of faculty appointed by Davis and UT\u2019s chief\u00a0academic officer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Though he is not sure exactly what\u2019s next, Chaar L\u00f3pez is determined to stay in academia and continue his work researching how race, history and technology shape the government\u2019s immigration enforcement at the border.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI ask questions that maybe someone in a position of power might disagree with. \u2026 We ask these questions because we\u2019re trying to get at what is the truth,\u201d Chaar L\u00f3pez said. \u201cI did all of that work\u00a0\u2014 11 years of work\u00a0\u2014 \u00a0trying to achieve the security of tenure so that I can maybe ask even more difficult questions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iv\u00e1n Chaar L\u00f3pez, a University of Texas scholar on border surveillance, in his office in Austin, Wednesday, July…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379979,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-379978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u00a0
Deepa Das Acevedo, a legal labor scholar and author of \u201cThe War on Tenure,\u201d said that although a presidential veto is rare in tenure proceedings, it is not illegal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n