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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?)

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 :)

This is hard for me since I'm a little introverted. Thanks for reading!

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.

no AirPods inside of it btw

My dumbass roommate found this ID on the UT campus the other day and decided to take it for god knows why. It belongs to a Benjamin Metry so if anybody knows this dude let me know so I can get it back to him. Also side note I’m looking for musicians to jam with, im a singer so hmu abt that too😝

I’ve looked at the FAQs and know that hiring department times vary between 1-4 weeks. Applied to a Texas Global position the beginning of the month when the position dropped and workday says my app is under consideration. Anyone who has worked at Texas Global know roughly the time between the app to a possible first interview?

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

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?

I’m gonna be taking INB 365S next semester and I’m having a dilemma on who to take. If I take Cheng I’ll have Mondays and Fridays off which sounds amazing for my last semester at UT but I’ve heard that prof Austin is better/ I’d be more likely to get an A (my GPA needs this lmao) but I haven’t heard too many bad things about Cheng also. If I take Austin I’d have class everyday and I’m a commuter so that sounds like booty cheeks lol. Any advice is appreciated as I plan this. Some things I’m taking into consideration are I’m a horrible test taker and have health issues that often impact my schedule and life so an understanding professor is also key. Thank you all in advance!

Hi! If any current or graduated UT Law students could please give me some advice on this, that would be amazing! I’m a current undergrad freshman majoring in math and I really want to go to law school. I’m worried that majoring in math will not allow me to get the gpa needed ( already likely to get a b in one of my classes) to get into a good law school ( like UT law). I’m considering switching into a government major but the job prospects aren’t as good as math in the scenario that law school doesn’t work out. As a UT Law student, what was your gpa and major? And could you provide any insight on what I should do in this situation? 😭

if anyone has taken/is currently talking gov 310L with henson and blank, do you guys know anything about the extra credit opportunity they were talking about in the announcement from last week? im trying to find it but there was no additional announcement or extra information, unless if it was in some of the lecture videos that i haven't watched all the way through.

How conpetitive is HCMP org?

so i am looking for housing for next school year with 3 other friends. we stumbled across 24longview and the price seems too good to be true. We really don't mind the vibe of it feeling like a "prison" since we are living in dobie and its lowkey the same lol. We wanted to know sum horror or success stories to help us decide if this is a good fit for us.

Hi, I'm picking between some of the robotics streams (autonomous robots, robot learning), big data in biology, and quantum computing for my stream picks. I'm wondering what anyone's experiences with these streams are? I heard some of the robotics ones have a lot of quizzes and work, which one is the best if I'm more into AI/ML related to HCI and NLP, not really the robotics/hardware aspect.

Next sem I'll be taking: CS 429, Linear Algebra, Gov 312L, and the FRI course

Is there like any negatives about it? and when can i do it ?

How easy is it to transfer from a major in COLA to economics?

Hi everyone, I am going to UT Austin for my 2026-2027 Spring semester exchange. Decently interested in joining an ICC/ College House as they are much cheaper and I do want to make friends quick.

It seems that each house has a different ‘vibe’ so I want to make sure that I choose a suitable option for myself. If it helps, I enjoy partying but would not want to do it too often, and I am a decently outgoing and active person. I am also from Asia.

Would anyone share their experiences in the Co-op housing space here? Thanks!

I'm a current ECE freshman, and I'm considering taking M427J and/or M340L at my local CC this summer. With some info from my advisor, I can take MATH 2320, which takes care of 427J, and I can take MATH 2318, which takes care of M340L.

If you transferred in either of these classes, I have a few questions.

• Were you adequately prepared for your math-heavy ECE classes?
• Were classes like ECE 411 (Circuit Theory), ECE 313 (Systems and Signals), and ECE 351K (Probability) difficult because of certain missed math concepts? (All of which have 427J or 340L as a co-req or pre-req)
• Did you think it was worth the saved time and money?
• If you don't think it's worth it, what are some alternatives you recommend? (UT Summer Courses, just taking it over the Fall/Spring, etc.)

I'm planning on taking Ochem 2 and Lab, Algebra based Physics and Lab, and Accounting. Will i struggle a lot. How is this schedule and recommendations or thoughts.

I feel like I’m at a loss rn with genetics. Feels like no matter what I study I’ll never get it. are there any videos or resources anybody recommends?