{"id":473264,"date":"2026-10-22T10:18:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/473264\/"},"modified":"2026-10-22T10:18:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-22T10:18:19","slug":"texas-is-on-the-rise-ut-president-jim-davis-promotes-accomplishments-announces-new-projects-in-state-of-the-university-address-the-daily-texan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/473264\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Texas is on the rise\u2019: UT President Jim Davis promotes accomplishments, announces new projects in \u2018State of the University\u2019 address \u2013 The Daily Texan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"10-21-26_StateoftheUniversity_JustinDoud-2\"
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tUT President Jim Davis delivers his State of the University address at Hogg Auditorium Oct. 21, 2026.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

University President Jim Davis defended recent curriculum changes, reiterated many of his administration\u2019s principles and announced a new college at his 2026 State of the University address Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n

Davis\u2019s 20-minute address focused on actions his administration had taken since his 2025 confirmation. He described building a culture of \u201cmission, decision and action\u201d to combat what he depicts as an \u201call-time low\u201d in public trust for higher education institutions.<\/p>\n

Davis announced the creation of a new academic unit, the \u201cUniversity College,\u201d which will oversee administration of the new core curriculum that Davis presented to the UT System Board of Regents in August. Government professor Devin Stauffer, who previously served as chair of the faculty task force that helped develop the new core curriculum, will lead the college.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe University College will work closely with all of our faculty across the colleges and schools to ensure that the core provides a common learning experience for all of our students,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

The college will include three committees formed to oversee the new core curriculum\u2019s three academic pillars: arts & humanities, social sciences and STEM. Davis said he invites all faculty members to get involved in the core development process, and praised members of the core curriculum task force for their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe new core is clear, focused (and) rigorous. It\u2019s a foundational education,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt gives every Longhorn a common code of experience and builds judgment and character, \u2026 it will prepare them for a modern world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis defended the creation of the new core, which he announced in August<\/a> as an overhaul of the current system designed to address student confusion. The proposed core has received attention for its \u201cWestern Civilization\u201d class and a \u201cGreat Questions of Human Life\u201d class, based on the works of primarily Western male authors.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevisiting the core wasn\u2019t just required, it was necessary,\u201d Davis said. \u201cOur core had devolved into an incoherent collection of more than 1,000 courses. It was a chore for our students to navigate. Many of our students thought it had little value beyond checking the box to graduate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis also discussed his goals for UT Dell Medicine, the health institution under development at the University that seeks to integrate student learning and research with patient care in what Davis called a new \u201ctechnology platform.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cUT Dell Medicine is no longer a vision,\u201d Davis said. \u201cIt is real, and it will change UT and human health for (the) better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis also announced the creation of the Frontiers of Science Building, a new on-campus facility dedicated to interdisciplinary research independent from any one college or school. Davis said the building will house projects combining knowledge and technology from different fields of science, including AI, computation and robotics.<\/p>\n

Davis also focused on achievements made since his appointment in August 2025, including a record number of degrees and student and faculty applications. Davis also celebrated increased financial support for the University, both in research funding and donations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word is out,\u201d Davis said. \u201cTexas is the place to be. Texas is the place to thrive. We are stable, we are flourishing and we are ready for what\u2019s next.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response to concerns over academic freedom and responsibility, Davis voiced appreciation for faculty on the Faculty Advisory Board and working committees for building cooperation between University leadership and staff. Davis expressed optimism and a willingness to celebrate what he hopes the University can be moving forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state of the university is clear,\u201d Davis said. \u201cTexas is on the rise.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"UT President Jim Davis delivers his State of the University address at Hogg Auditorium Oct. 21, 2026. University…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473265,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-473264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473264","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=473264"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473264\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473265"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}