Jim Davis was ceremonially sworn in as UT Austin’s 31st President Wednesday during an investiture ceremony followed by his State of the University Address. In his remarks, Davis announced a new UT Medical Center and Center for Texas History. He also addressed concerns over the “loss of public trust in higher education,” reiterating his hope for the future of the institution amid heightened scrutiny.
“Our greatest days are ahead of us,” Davis said. “This university is strong and ready to thrive like never before.”
Davis was officially appointed university president following a vote by the UT System Board of Regents in August, though he was named the sole finalist for the role in July, forgoing a traditional nationwide search process.
Davis was appointed interim President in February following the resignation of former President Jay Hartzell, who now serves as the President of Southern Methodist University.
Formerly the University’s Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Davis has been with UT since 2018. The U.S. Navy veteran previously worked under Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is currently running for Senate, as a deputy Attorney General. He received his undergraduate degree from UT and earned his J.D. from Harvard Law.
Davis is the first president in 120 years not to have teaching experience, for which he’s received criticism from faculty. He did point out in his address that he is one of only two presidents to receive their undergraduate degree from UT Austin, the other being UT’s 10th President Harry Benedict, who held the role from 1927 to 1937.
“Benedict stood right here in Hogg Auditorium – 50 years after the university opened,” Davis said. “He delivered an idea that would become his most famous quote: ‘Public confidence is the only real endowment of a state university.’”
That public confidence has faltered amid a growing political focus on higher education, with legislative oversight and political attention on the university and its leaders at a recent high.
President Donald Trump recently offered nine universities, including UT Austin, the chance to agree to a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education.”
Seven of the universities have rejected the offer. UT, along with Vanderbilt University, have not yet indicated whether they plan to sign the compact.
The main tenets of the compact, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, include capping international student enrollment, recognizing two genders and freezing tuition for five years.
If universities reject the deal, they will receive federal research funding cuts.
Though no decision has been announced, UT System Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltife said in a statement to TSTV News that the system “is honored that our flagship —The University of Texas at Austin—has been … selected by the Trump Administration for potential funding advantages,” adding that the Board looks forward to reviewing the compact with input from university officials.
Davis and Eltife didn’t address the compact in their remarks, despite the deadline issued by the White House having been Monday. Instead, Davis outlined five core goals, one of which is the reinstatement of public trust.
“Some wonder if we have lost our way in how we teach,” Davis said. “They question whether the modern academic has forgotten the duty to steward curiosity, or to invite students to see broad and varied perspectives. Has inquiry become indoctrination? Has science surrendered to subjectivity? Have we given in to a culture of asserting my truth, with an intolerance for any other? That is not the Texas way.”
Davis added he will prioritize the reorganization of core curriculum requirements in line with “value, balance and completeness,” pillars he called the universities “guiding principles” going forward. One effort to enact those goals will be the creation of the Center for Texas History, which Davis described as a program meant to “make the fullness of Texas History” available to students.
The construction of a UT Medical Center was another banner announcement, an initiative Davis said would combine the efforts of the Dell Medical School and MD Anderson.
Beyond new projects, Davis said UT will prioritize investment in “materials science,” which allow the creation of new materials through known elements, and will restore the UT Tower, which is already under restorative construction.
Following the ceremony, over 100 students protested the university’s response to Trump’s compact deal. The group gathered at the intersection of 24th Street and Whitis Avenue outside of where Davis was speaking at the Hogg Memorial Auditorium.
“The goal of the demonstration is to show our new president our displeasure with the compact, and show the impact that signing it would have,” said freshman Adhia Da Silva Agostinho. “This is in hopes that we can work together for a better future for all of UT.”
Da Silva Agostinho was one of several students who spoke in front of the crowd of protesters. Others delivered slam poetry, short speeches and chanted “Not Our Texas,” the organizing group’s handle on social media.
“I think it’s really important to continue to cultivate the cultural protests on campus, which has been stifled in the last couple years,” said Professor Karma Chavez. “I think this is what students should be doing.”
Protesters voiced frustration at the lack of transparency around the university’s decision-making process.
“We feel like it’s definitely intentional,” said Fama, an organizer who asked only to be identified by their first name. “We feel like they know that we as a student body, and even as faculty, outwardly reject this compact and do not want any of the outlines that the compact has to go into effect, which is exactly why they aren’t being transparent about it.”
The university did not respond to requests for comment on the state of the compact deal.
Protesters worked with representatives from the Dean of Students’ Event Readiness and Response team to protest, though at times there were vocal clashes between demonstrators, Dean of Students staff and UTPD officers, one of which requested one professor’s UT ID and radioed her name through his radio.
Joe LoBrutto, Head of Event Readiness and Response, told one passerby that the group had reserved space for the protest, though he declined to specify to TSTV News what space was reserved, citing confidentiality concerns.
The group was also limited in their ability to march throughout the intersection’s crosswalks over concerns about traffic impediments and the group’s chant volume on the side of the intersection where the investiture entrance was located, but organizers and Dean of Students staff directed traffic and marched in grouped segments, at times falling silent on the side of the street where their chants were prohibited before resuming once they crossed back over.
“Without the Longhorns, there is no UT,” said Da Silva Agostinho. “And by signing away this compact we are signing away our Longhorns to the Trump administration.”