The University of North Texas will not release records related to interim provost Albert Bimper until after this week’s meeting of the UNT System Board of Regents.
UNT recently announced the promotion of Bimper, a critical race theory scholar, as its interim provost and top academic official.
Bimper had a brief NFL career and his academic scholarship primarily focuses on racial issues related to college athletics. He has explicitly discussed his use of critical race theory as a “lens” on several occasions.
Coursework from Bimper’s term as dean of the College of Liberal Arts promoted witchcraft, demonology, “queer anti-capitalism,” and “sexual liberation politics.”
Following the announcement of Bimper’s hire, Texas Scorecard sent a series of open records requests for certain communications from Bimper and for communications about his hire by senior officials:
- Communications in the possession of Dr. Albert Bimper mentioning the following keywords: Abbott, Critical, Equity, Queer, Sexual.
- Communications in the possession of UNT System Board of Regents Chairman Carlos Munguia mentioning the following keywords: Bimper, Provost.
- Communications in the possession of UNT Campus President Harrison Keller mentioning the following keywords: Bimper, Provost.
In late July, the UNT System said they would attempt to withhold the records in question under a series of exemptions related to “attorney-client privilege,” and “agency memoranda.”
On August 4, Director of Strategic Communications Melisa Brown provided supplemental documentation about the objections under which UNT would seek an attorney general’s ruling on whether it could withhold information about Keller and Bimper from disclosure under exemptions to the Texas Public Information Act. Brown further stated that UNT would provide a partial release of information under these requests on Monday, August 17, 2026.
Brown stated that there were no responsive records for the request about Munguia. UNT thus withdrew the request for an attorney general ruling.
The UNT System Board of Regents’ next meeting, where they could potentially discuss Bimper’s hire, is scheduled for August 13-14. No agenda for this meeting had been posted as of publication.
Under a state law passed in 2025, provost hires require approval from the Board of Regents. The law is unclear whether this provision applies to interim hires.
That same law gives the university president, Harrison Keller, final jurisdiction over day-to-day university operations.
Keller reports to the Board of Regents.
The University of North Texas did not respond to multiple detailed requests for comment about Bimper’s hire.
The University of North Texas is a component of the University of North Texas System. The UNT System is overseen by a Board of Regents that is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate. Carlos Munguia of University Park is the current board chairman.
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