>> Was UATX a hard-right project from the start? Based on my reporting, I don’t think it was. I was struck by the sincerity of the commitment to free speech and open inquiry from so many of the people with whom I spoke. A few were Trump supporters, but many more were best identified as anti-woke moderates or liberals. The university’s saga has a strong sense of historical contingency — that it could have gone quite differently had some high-leverage moments gone otherwise. <<

I disagree.

Although some of the names associated with the project at its beginnings might have had a sincere commitment to free inquiry, the presence of the billionaire technofascist Lonsdale as a founder and funder of this venture meant that it was always going to be nothing more than a right wing training camp.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/01/16/civil-war-university-of-austin-bari-weiss-00729688?

#USEducation #USPolitics #UniversityOfAustin #HigherEducation #Universities #Austin #Texas #JoeLonsdale

Bari Weiss’ Tiny Fake Austin College Sees Mass Staff, Advisor Exodus

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/31/bari-weiss-tiny-fake-austin-college-sees-mass-staff-advisor-exodus/

This year it became undeniable that this "university" was nothing more than a thinktank training camp at the service of ultraright plutocrats like Joe Lonsdale.

>>My colleague told me that we needed to talk about a social-media post of mine that “had become a big problem.” I rarely post anything online, so I was confused about what he meant. Apparently, it had something to do with DEI, and had angered a major funder. <<

https://quillette.com/2025/05/16/is-the-university-of-austin-betraying-its-founding-principles/

#UniversityOfAustin #HigherEducation #USPolitics #EllieAvishai #RightWing #Texas

>>...apparently, I had really triggered somebody that was sort of a powerful person in the university. And that evening, I was let go, and so was my whole team...<<

My guess is that the "sort of powerful person in the university" is none other than Joe Lonsdale himself.

https://thecjn.ca/news/campus/ellie-avishai-got-cancelled-on-a-college-campus-because-she-wasnt-right-wing-enough/

#Universities #UniversityOfAustin #EllieAvishai #HigherEducation #JoeLonsdale

Sadly but not surprisingly, the University of Austin has turned out to be nothing but a culture war vehicle for US conservatives.

https://quillette.com/2025/05/16/is-the-university-of-austin-betraying-its-founding-principles/

#UniversityOfAustin #Texas #HigherEducation #Universities #UATX

Their servers are getting hammered, but this is a wild read (I've linked the Archive.org mirror). Ever wonder what that nutjobbery University of Austin ended up looking like?

https://web.archive.org/web/20240219233718/https://thenewinquiry.com/an-american-education-notes-from-uatx/

#UATX #UniversityOfAustin #HigherEd

Looks like the new "University of Austin", a private venture born from the founders' resentments after people failed to like them very much for conducting smear campaigns against...

(checks notes)

...college students, are ready to open their grievance-based university.

#UniversityOfAustin

https://www.texastribune.org/2023/11/08/university-austin-uatx-launch-2024/