Patrick’s declarations come days after the UT-Austin Faculty Council approved a measure reaffirming instructors’ right to teach about racial justice and critical race theory in the classroom.
Kate McGee
Kate McGee is an Austin-based enterprise and investigative reporter. She joined the Tribune in October 2020 as a higher education reporter. She was a three-time finalist for the Education Writers Association's Beat Reporter of the Year award, winning the title in 2024. She was also a Livingston Award finalist for her coverage of the University of Texas at Austin. Before the Tribune, she spent nearly a decade as a reporter at public radio stations nationwide, including in Chicago; Washington, D.C.; Austin; Reno, Nevada; and New York. Kate was born in New York City and primarily raised in New Jersey. She earned her bachelor's degree from Fordham University.
Posted in
Higher Education
Historically Black college has a new twist on admissions: You can bring your family, too
Paul Quinn College hopes the new practice will better combat intergenerational poverty and remove the pressure on first-generation college students to financially lift up their entire families.
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Higher Education
UT faculty members demand answers after Dan Patrick says Liberty Institute intended to fight critical race theory
The lieutenant governor vowed to ban the teaching of critical race theory at Texas’ public colleges and universities.
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Higher Education
Texas State fired official after the Tribune asked about his use of bone marrow registry funds
Texas State University terminated Ronnie Lozano in mid-December, a month and a half after The Texas Tribune raised questions about how he was using bone marrow registry program donations.
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Higher Education
Texas A&M students protest after president ends print publication of 129-year-old Battalion newspaper
The student newspaper will continue as an online-only news organization after the spring semester. But the university’s unilateral decision to end the print edition without student input has students and faculty concerned about its editorial independence.
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Investigations
A Texas State bone marrow registry program became a national model. Now, its leader is under investigation for diverting money to support an affair.
The university has declined to say much about the questionable spending, documented in records provided to The Texas Tribune. The Texas State University System is investigating the matter.
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Higher Education
Texas college students confront anxiety, apathy as another pandemic semester begins
As Texas universities and colleges begin a fifth semester during the COVID-19 pandemic, many students say they are struggling with uncertainty and an indifference toward school and the future.
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Higher Education
Rice and 15 other universities accused of conspiring to limit financial aid
A federal lawsuit accuses Rice University of engaging in price-fixing in collaboration with other prestigious private schools across the country, inflating the cost of college for students who need aid.
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Higher Education
UT System Board names Jennifer Evans-Cowley as sole finalist for president of UT-Arlington
The board must wait a state-mandated 21 days before the finalist is officially named the 10th president of UT-Arlington. If approved, Evans-Cowley will be the first female president at the university.
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Coronavirus in Texas
Omicron’s swift emergence tests Texas public schools as a new semester begins
Many schools are pushing through with plans for in-person classes despite a surge in COVID-19 cases as they try to reassure parents and students they are prepared to open safely this week.
