Following Jay Hartzell’s resignation as president of the University of Texas at Austin, the UT System Board of Regents has appointed the university’s chief operating officer, Jim Davis, as interim president.
Hartzell stepped down to take the presidency at Southern Methodist University–a private institution not affected by Senate Bill 17, the state’s ban on DEI in higher education.
The law went into effect in 2023 and banned diversity, equity, and inclusion offices and practices, leading to tumultuous changes across Texas public universities.
The law rattled many leftist faculty members and led conservative legislators to closely monitor university activities for DEI and “wokeness.”
Notably, former Texas A&M President Katherine Banks also resigned following the passage of SB 17 after controversy over the failed hiring of a journalism director who publicly supported DEI.
Davis graduated with a bachelor’s degree in History from UT Austin and attended Harvard Law School. He worked under Attorney General Ken Paxton for nearly four years after Paxton took office in 2015, then went to work for his alma mater, becoming vice president of legal affairs in late 2018.
Davis has been promoted to interim president after working as UT’s senior vice president and chief operating officer since 2023.
“My colleagues and I have been working closely with him on some of the biggest issues facing the university for years and we look forward to, as the chairman suggested, making significant progress during his interim presidency,” System Chancellor James Milliken said at the UT System meeting Wednesday.
It is possible that Davis could be named UT Austin president if the UT System decides not to conduct a candidate search. This occurred in 2020 when Hartzell was appointed as interim president and named president a few months later.
The regents of the UT System are appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
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