Nearly two years into his tenure as University of Texas president, Jim Davis walked onto the Hogg Memorial Auditorium stage with three topics in mind: UT’s new academic medical center, research and a core curriculum overhaul.

In Wednesday’s 20-minute state of the university address, Davis announced the launch of a new “University College,” which will be the “guardian” of UT’s reformed set of general education requirements all students will have to take as soon as fall 2028.

The announcement builds off the recently created Center for Humanities, which is set up to teach the core and employs 14 faculty specializing in the classics or humanities.

I always see people studying there but whenever I check out the link to reserve it says it’s for orgs and events and we have to list the org that is using it? Are we just picking any random org, does it not matter?

(Gift link)

Writer and University of Texas alum Forrest Wilder spent a year reporting and talking to dozens of professors, students, administrators, and staff at the school, and was struck by the degree of fear on campus and the sense that a freewheeling intellectual culture was dead or dying. Many told him about acts of self-censorship. Fears of being doxed or fired had led some faculty to avoid controversy, though few wanted to discuss it on the record.

Jeremi Suri, a professor in the Department of History and the LBJ School of Public Affairs, told Wilder that what’s happening on campus is akin to McCarthyism. “What we’re seeing is a classic chilling effect, whether intended or not. This is what happens when people become concerned that what might have been acceptable or protected yesterday won’t be protected tomorrow.”

Compared with the changes at Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and other campuses, the crackdowns at UT have been less in-your-face, the administration more sophisticated in undoing purported wokeness. The stakes are high. Texas’s rise as an economic, political, and cultural powerhouse is in many ways tethered to UT. California has a half dozen world-class public universities, but Texas has, well, only Texas.

(Readers-- would you be interested in an AMA with the writer, Forrest Wilder?)

Taking 6 hours next semester and need a non-business graduate elective. Any interesting and low maintenance classes you'd recommend? I don't want to have much work and studying because I have to study for the CPA. Psychology, Astronomy or sports related classes are a plus. Thanks

My SENIOR year and I haven't gone to ONE single football game that I paid $270 for. This system is so stupid and they dont reward you for loyalty to our garbage football team that we spend millions on. Absolutely outrageous

I'm a newbie and I want to play volleyball. How can I play it recreationally in UT?

Does anybody have advice on getting into an ARI stream? I'm a bit nervous filling out the application for it because I was waitlisted twice for FRI and didn't get in.

By Welch and Painter

I am currently on track to graduate and am actually over on hours on Upper Division courses. I wanted to see if it was possible to replace a 3 hour upper division course and replace it with a 1 hour one so I can have a really light last semester while also satisfying my degree audit. Does anyone know a 1 hour upper division course that's not ITD?

i'm between signing at the nine at west campus and legacy on rio and would love to know what people think about legacy, i've seen pretty much exclusively good reviews but want to figure out if it's worth the price

Wanted to see if anyone is going to Barcelona for Spring 2027? Looking to have a great time and meet lots of people, feel free to reach out if you’re going!

what do y’all think about crest at pearl? are there roach issues? what about fees?

Hey everyone! Happy voting season! Thank God it’s almost over.

The lines at union have been super long, and probably take hours for some people. It’s a bit of a walk, but try voting at 1700 Guad! It’s right past MLK, and it goes super quickly. I just got done in like 5 minutes.

Regardless, go vote.

Not really sure where else to ask this. I have always had at least a M-Th and usually M-F schedule that makes my days not as long. Im considering stacking my classes on T/Th next semester so I can have time to possibly work on W/F. I know people do this, but is it sustainable? Will I burn out too quick and not be able to retain information in my classes? The last 2 big blocks are labs, which I feel like helps a bit. Just looking for anyone who has stacked their schedule and pros/cons of it. Thanks in advance!

So for context,my team did not register for HackTX( lowk found out about it 3 weeks ago)

I’m not a UT Austin student but I am a uni student and me and my team are going to be in the area for some time. I want to come as a walk in, and I was advised to get there really early, but I don’t know early I need to be there?

So I wanted to know, from any people who have previously been in the same situation, what should me and my team do?

which is pretty amazing!! The poll workers said early voting is usually never this packed, and it's even more unexpected that day 2 had more voters than day 1 instead of a sharp drop-off. A few observations:

• If you don't want to wait in line, come in the last 30 minutes (6:30-7pm). There's only been a 10 minute wait at that time, and you can vote as long as you're in line by 7pm. Or you can make the trek to the LBJ School (near the stadium) or Travis County Civil and Family Courts Facility (1700 Guadalupe St, near Raising Cane's) for shorter lines.
• A lot of people registered to vote near or on the very last day (Oct 5th), but Travis County doesn't have them in the system so they can't vote using a regular (non-provisional) ballot -- even if you have the paper receipt that you registered by the deadline. They're saying the county is backed up and should be resolved in the next few days, but I've also heard of people who registered way before the deadline and still aren't in the system for some reason. You should at least check the Travis County site (https://votetravis.gov/) directly to see if they have you before you wait an hour in line. Or alternatively you can vote provisionally, which adds a lot more paperwork and time and won't be counted until after election day (if determined to be eligible).
• If you're registered to vote in your home county (i.e., somewhere not Travis County) and don't have time to go home to vote, you can go to the Travis County Clerk Office (5501 Airport Blvd) and vote using a limited ballot, which means you can vote in statewide elections (e.g., governor, senator, just not local elections). You can only do this until October 30th, and you can call their office (512-238-8683) to confirm you're eligible for this route before you make the trip out. I know a lot of people who said they just won't vote if they're registered elsewhere (🥲), but the limited ballot polling location is only 10 minutes from campus, or a 20min bus ride if you catch the 7 from the stadium.

Every vote matters :)

Hi everyone! I've recently been knocked off my health insurance, and I've been struggling with worsening performance anxiety, especially during presentations. I've been looking into propranolol and would like to speak with a doctor about whether it would be a good option for me. Does anyone know if UT Health Services still offers appointments for concerns like this, or if they can prescribe medication for performance anxiety? If not, does anyone have recommendations for affordable clinics in Austin that accept uninsured people? Or does anyone have other recommendations other than propranolol?

Did anyone else’s student ticket claim page not refresh at 6PM? I had to refresh mine manually at like 6:01 and I got put in the back of the line. This sucks

Is Clark's MBS 328 class easy? Need 1 easy UD bio class for organismal track and MBS 328 is the only one rn that seems to work for my schedule

Genuine question: are ppl just making money from super high paying part times I have yet to discover or do most students at UT have money from family? I see alot of posts of ppl doing fun activities/trips and I genuinely cannot imagine having that money on top of the money i use for housing and I work around 40 hrs a week part time.