University of Austin

[Manderleyagain]

Some people in America are trying to launch a new university. It will have a physical campus in Austin Texas.

Kathleen Stock is listed as an academic advisor. Their advisory board is very impressive.

The many gc feminists who post here who work in academia might be interested in this development.

They have published a blog on Bari Weiss Web site.
bariweiss.substack.com/p/f0ee620b-e8f7-43f0-a9b9-0caff5d76d55

It is a response to the censorious and group think prone nature of American Unis.

"Universities are the places where society does its thinking, where the habits and mores of our citizens are shaped. If these institutions are not open and pluralistic, if they chill speech and ostracize those with unpopular viewpoints, if they lead scholars to avoid entire topics out of fear, if they prioritize emotional comfort over the often-uncomfortable pursuit of truth, who will be left to model the discourse necessary to sustain liberty in a self-governing society?"

Their Web site.
www.uaustin.org/our-principles

My instinct is its too difficult a thing to pull off, but still worth watching I think.

Texas though?!

Interesting read though. Would be impressed if they can pull it off.

It's an interesting place to choose. A very woke city in a very non-woke state.

This would be the practical embodiment of what Jonathan Haidt talks about here:

If all current universities are pivoting to prioritise Social Justice, then we're going to need to refound new ones that prioritise Truth, so there is consumer choice. A university is free to prioritise Social Justice (just as it can prioritise Christ), but there is a market for those who want Truth.

That's quite a roll-call of names.

Our project began with a small gathering of those concerned about the state of higher education—Niall Ferguson, Bari Weiss, Heather Heying, Joe Lonsdale, Arthur Brooks, and I—and we have since been joined by many others, including the brave professors mentioned above, Kathleen Stock, Dorian Abbot and Peter Boghossian.

We count among our numbers university presidents: Robert Zimmer, Larry Summers, John Nunes, and Gordon Gee, and leading academics, such as Steven Pinker, Deirdre McCloskey, Leon Kass, Jonathan Haidt, Glenn Loury, Joshua Katz, Vickie Sullivan, Geoffrey Stone, Bill McClay, and Tyler Cowen.

We are also joined by journalists, artists, philanthropists, researchers, and public intellectuals, including Lex Fridman, Andrew Sullivan, Rob Henderson, Caitlin Flanagan, David Mamet, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Sohrab Ahmari, Stacy Hock, Jonathan Rauch, and Nadine Strossen.

As SusannaRowan said, people don't get what Austin is like. Large numbers of wealthy Californians have relocated from Silicon Valley to Austin in the past few years. It's more like the Portland of Texas.

The state location is presumably important for legal reasons. The city less so, I would imagine. It's probably a usefully balanced location, allowing them to present themselves as centrist, rather than right-wing.

@nauticant

As SusannaRowan said, people don't get what Austin is like. Large numbers of wealthy Californians have relocated from Silicon Valley to Austin in the past few years. It's more like the Portland of Texas.

This is definitely true about Californians, but Austin has been a blue dot in a red state for over 50 years.

If anything, it's possible relocating Californians might be making Austin less Woke? They're likely to be Woke refugees.

Those Woke refugees might be a key target market.

All it takes is money and I would not be surprised if there were plenty of wealthy philanthropists willing to get behind it.

So - those who mention the demographic being quite woke in Austin - do you think they would have been wise to go with a different location? Will it make it a non starter?

It seems their potential audience of students isn't necessarily republican voting. It's difficult to describe but it's not really a left/right thing. It's more about different approaches to knowledge, and what education is for. Empiricism & enlightenment values are not right wing or Conservative. They are an approach to creating knowledge which can equally serve left wing policies & agendas as right wing ones. Or maybe I'm being naive? Many of the people involved are not Conservative or right wing in the usual sense. Some are. But they don't think the main purpose of HE is to bring about social justice, and are v pro academic freedom. That's what they have in common.

My instinct is similar to yours, choosing a location on the basis of left vs right would not be a good idea. Austin is growing fast, there's a big influx of educated people going on, Tesla is going to relocate some of its functions there, along with other companies, and the result would seem to be a dynamic and diverse city where people are looking to find high quality education for their children. There is a growing skepticism about identity politics. Austin would seem to offer a decent risk/reward ratio.

There is already a university located there, the University of Texas at Austin.

@NecessaryScene

If anything, it's possible relocating Californians might be making Austin less Woke? They're likely to be Woke refugees.

Those Woke refugees might be a key target market.

I don't think of Austin as particularly woke in comparison with, say, San Francisco. Historically, it has always had more of a quirky vibe that was heavily influenced by 1960s culture and the University of Texas. There's also a distinct libertarian element. It's the home of Alex Jones (who was so recently enamored with Graham Lineham).

That being said, there continues to be an influx of newcomers from California and the north. They tend to be relatively well off. This has had the effect of pricing many black families that have lived there for decades out of city.

It's certainly an interesting choice of location.

Watching with interest (despite Texas being sooo far..).

Hope it gets off the ground and that UK uni's follow suit before their wokeness cannibalises everything we hold dear.

Looks like a pretend uni for right wing "thinkers" some of whom with a dodgy record regarding women (in Epstein's little black book), I hear...

Squirrel alert!!!

I wonder whether they will be able to get accreditation which they will apply for? And in the mean time whether they will be able to get another uni to award their degrees. That could be the political stumbling block.

How would it work in the UK? I've got a feeling you need an act of parliament to establish a new uni that can award degrees in its own name.

@TheCountessofFitzdotterel

All it takes is money and I would not be surprised if there were plenty of wealthy philanthropists willing to get behind it.

That's my impression - it would be interesting to see how much funding and how far it goes.

How would it work in the UK? I've got a feeling you need an act of parliament to establish a new uni that can award degrees in its own name.

I would hope that if it eventually becomes popular and respected, existing universities (who are obviously chasing fees and will bend to the market) would become more hospitable to critical thinking.

I don't think it would necessitate lots of brand new uni's for the existing ones to change, given appropriate cultural and market shifts. They'll just adapt as necessary to survive. It's likely going to take a while, though!

A concern I do have is that over the next decade or so billions of dollars from tech bilionaires is going to go to promote trans activism and identity politics.

thehill.com/homenews/509429-mackenzie-scott-ex-wife-of-jeff-bezos-announces-17-billion-in-donations-to-charities

How would it work in the UK? I've got a feeling you need an act of parliament to establish a new uni that can award degrees in its own name.

tbh, I would welcome competition in the HE sector in the UK for a high value, online university degree that is competitively priced.

that university doesn't award degrees - it sounds like for now they are planning to offer summer school courses to rich kids?

Shall I squirrel spot with you, @MrsOvertonsWindow?

They do keep coming.

@CatherinaJTV

Looks like a pretend uni for right wing "thinkers" some of whom with a dodgy record regarding women (in Epstein's little black book), I hear...

Do you ever have a day off?

Nah, too busy squirrelling away.

Vey active, squirrels.