Bill Powers
Grand Jury Calls for Removal of Regent Wallace Hall
Mar 31st - 12:22 pm
A Travis County grand jury is calling on the University of Texas System to remove Regent Wallace Hall, Jr. A four-page report released Tuesday fell short of indicting the UT system regent, but said, “we are appalled at the Regent’s unaccountable and abusive behavior,” and added that it “is in the best interest of the state” to remove Hall from office.
The grand jury had been asked to look into allegations of abuse of office, misuse of information and official oppression against Hall after he conducted a personal investigation into UT Austin President Bill Powers. The grand jury said Hall’s “abusive excess” overwhelmed the system with 800,000 pages of open records requests, and added he tried to avoid paying for the report that cost about a million dollars to complete.
“Outrageously, after requiring university staff to double their effort to fulfill these parallel requests, he actually requested not to be charged (like other private citizens are) for the cost of his private open records requests.”
The report accuses Hall of avoiding transparency and accountability by communicating orders verbally to avoid a paper trail, and said his actions led to leaks of confidential student information. The report says Hall’s “over leveraging of his power resulted in lost talent, lowered morale, exposure of student information and unreasonable expenses.”
The grand jury also recommended changes in protocols for regents in the future, including making regents pay for open records requests and establishing consequences for distributing confidential data. It also suggests requiring regents to use university email accounts for all official business like other employees.
A House Committee censured Regent Hall last year due to his investigation, and several lawmakers called for his resignation. Hall’s supporters, including then-Governor Rick Perry who appointed him, said Hall’s investigation showed irregular admissions practices at UT-Austin. Hall got some vindication from an independent investigation released earlier this year that said it did find some applicants who had been accepted to UT despite objections from the admissions office due to the insistence of UT-Austin President Bill Powers. But Powers defended those actions, saying it was a common practice at colleges around the country and was in the long-term interest of the university. System Chancellor William McRaven did not discipline Powers after that report.
Rep. Dan Flynn (R – TX House District 2), who was a co-chair of the House Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations, released this joint statement after the grand jury report on behalf of himself and fellow co-chair Rep. Carol Alvarado (D – TX House District 145):
The grand jury report that came out this morning demonstrates why our committee needed to investigate Regent Hall and his behavior. Taxpayers expect their elected representatives to provide oversight of state agencies and executive appointees. Such oversight is especially important when appointees abuse their office. With this investigation now complete and with an outstanding new chancellor and strong new regents in place, we are optimistic that the UT System is ready to move forward and focus on the needs of its students and our state.
Regent Hall released the following statement after the grand jury’s decision not to indict him was made public:
The campaign by Speaker Straus, Representative Flynn and Senator Seliger to criminalize my service as a Regent constitutes abuse of office. Their use of the levers of political power to cover up wrongdoing by legislators should now be investigated, and those exposed for their abuses should be driven from office.
UT System Chancellor Names New Admissions Committee
Feb 16th - 3:15 pm
UT System Chancellor William McRaven has announced a new committee to reform the controversial admissions process at the state’s flagship public university. The six-member panel will review the recommendations in last week’s Kroll report into admissions at UT-Austin as well as recommendations from the UT System Board of Regents released last year.
The panel includes some high-powered names from the Texas higher education system, including former UT Austin presidents Larry Faulkner, Peter Flawn and William Cunningham, as well as former UT System chancellors Mark Yudof and Dan Burck and former UT System Executive Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs Pedro Reyes. McRaven says the goal for the committee is to advise the Board of Regents on best practices in university admissions that also provide transparency and oversight.
It comes after last week’s report which said UT Austin President Bill Powers did exert influence on a small number of applicants, including some with ties to donors and legislators. The report found Powers did not break any rules, but did suggest setting in place regulations to clarify vagueness in how much weight to put on a reference from the university president. Powers has stood behind his actions, saying universities across the country take actions like this to maintain relationships with people who benefit the school’s long-term interests. Chancellor McRaven says he wants to see this new report compared with internal investigations to find the best route forward for university admissions.
“My goal is to ensure full and open transparency to the public with respect to how admissions decisions are made at UT Austin. I realize that admissions practices are complicated and nuanced processes, but we must clearly define a policy that determines the degree of appropriate discretion at the institution level, while ensuring a fair and transparent process for applicants.”
UT System Chancellor William McRaven
McRaven says the committee is expected to release its recommendations on how to strengthen UT’s admission process within the next 60 days.
Report: Powers Used Authority to Admit ‘Must-Have’ Students to UT, Misled Lawyers
Feb 12th - 2:23 pm
A new independent report says University of Texas at Austin President Bill Powers used his authority to get students admitted into the state’s flagship school despite objections of the admissions office, and misled lawyers looking into his conduct.
The investigation ordered by former Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa found Powers stepped in to have “must-have” applicants accepted, including some who had the recommendation of powerful people in the state. The report also found he and his chief of staff, Nancy Brazzil, failed to tell the whole truth when questioned about it by the system’s attorneys.
The review found no evidence any applicant was admitted as a “result of a quid pro quo or other inappropriate promise or exchange”, and did say the number of less-qualified applicants was relatively small. In all, the investigation found 73 applicants who were admitted with a combined SAT score of less than 1100 and a high school GPA of less than 2.9. But the report did find “a few cases each year of ‘truly unqualified kids,'” and added political connections may have influenced admission decisions in a small number of cases.
The report gives some weight to accusations made by UT System Regent Wallace Hall, who caused conflict with other regents over his investigation into whether lawmakers had too much influence over the admissions process. Lawmakers threatened to impeach Hall and ultimately censured him over what many called a “witch hunt” aimed at Powers. The censure is a mainly symbolic gesture.
A previous internal report found the acceptance rate among students who had a recommendation from a “friend of the university” or other “person of influence” was nearly double the rate of the average applicant. But this in-depth report says no rules were broken by Powers. It says there are many other influences that got less-qualified students admitted, and pointed out many of these processes have been in place since long before Powers became president. It said UT’s “holistic admission process is inherently subjective,” and added that if there is a desire to change the president’s authority in the admissions process, then a new rule or law would need to be enacted.
Kroll found no existing law or statute, Regents Rule or UT-System Policy concerning how much weight to give “external” recommendations (letters, phone calls, inquiries) in the admissions process. For many years, the practice of the Board of Regents, the Chancellor, and UT-System has been to forward letters and inquiries about applicants to the UT-Austin President’s Office. This practice implicitly suggests that the President of UT-Austin oversees the Admissions Office and is the final arbiter in the admissions process. If the President of UT-Austin, as a matter of law or policy, is to play a different role in admissions determinations, it would seem incumbent upon the legislature or the Board of Regents to enact a law or rule that so states. No such rule or law presently exists.
UT-Austin President Bill Powers released the following statement:
I believe UT Austin’s admissions practices are motivated by fairness, the long-term interests of the University, and serving the public good. In response to the report, I would like to make six points:
1. As Kroll reported, over a five-year period, my office intervened on behalf of “a relatively small” number of students. In particular, the report cited 73 applicants who normally would not have been admitted, or fewer than one in 1,000 admitted students.
2. In every case, I acted in what I believed was the best interest of the University.
3. Our admissions practices are fully consistent with all established laws, rules, and policies.
4. I inherited this process, which was well known by regents, former chancellors, the Board of Regents Office, and UT System officials, many of whom, as the report notes, asked me to intervene on their behalf. This process, both prior to and during my presidency, was in the best long-term interest of the University.
5. As the Kroll report points out, no spots at the University were saved and no one was displaced by this practice. The students in question were simply added to the incoming class.
6. It is my observation that some similar process exists at virtually every selective university in America, and it does so because it serves the best interests of the institutions.
I am proud of our staff for the full cooperation it gave to the inquiry, as cited in the report by the firm Kroll & Associates: “The commitment, dedication, and good faith of all officials and personnel with whom we interacted were readily apparent.” The Kroll report contains many recommendations worth considering.
I thank Chancellor McRaven for his thoughtful leadership.
Capital Tonight: Powers’ Supporters Weigh In on Week of Turmoil
Jul 11th - 7:05 pm
After a rough week for the University of Texas’ leadership, we sat down with Reeve Hamilton of the Texas Tribune, Christy Hoppe of The Dallas Morning News, and Mike Ward of the Houston Chronicle to decode how regents, lawmakers and student leaders really feel about President Bill Powers.
Powers was the center of several controversies, and his recent timeline for resignation has people talking in both the Texas government and the University of Texas school system.
REPORTER ROUNDTABLE
Obama was the talk of the town this week when he stopped by Austin. Although the visit to Texas was originally just for fundraising, a large portion was shared with Gov. Rick Perry, who managed to get a meeting with the president over the recent crisis along the border. Our Reporter Roundtable looked at the politics behind the visit.
IMMIGRATION UPDATE
While efforts to increase funding are stalled, nonprofit organizations are picking up the slack when it comes to caring for the thousands of immigrant children detained at Texas’ southern border. The organizations, including Roy Maas Youth Alternatives and RAICES, offer shelter and basic needs to the children affected.
Plus, we checked in on the grand jury hearing looking into whether Gov. Perry abused his powers last session, when he threatened to defund the state’s Public Integrity Unit.
Capital Tonight: Obama, Perry Bring Border Discussion to Dallas
Jul 9th - 8:37 pm
The simmering conflict between the Board of Regents and UT Austin President Bill Powers has cooled down for now. University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa has accepted Powers’ offer to stay on until June of 2015, after initially demanding President Powers’ resignation by Thursday. At a faculty meeting on campus, Powers addressed supporters and explained his plan moving forward.
Meanwhile, immigration issues jumped back into the spotlight Wednesday, during President Barack Obama’s visit to Texas. After touching down in Dallas, the president accompanied Gov. Rick Perry in Marine One to discuss border control and the current immigration crisis.
In Wednesday’s Capital Tonight, we heard the president’s response to Perry’s suggestions, and how local business leaders are framing the immigration issue.
IMMIGRATION FRUSTRATION
While both sides of the political aisle are blaming each other for inaction, faith-based volunteers are already making a difference behind the scenes. Jeffery Patterson of the Texas Catholic Conference joined us to discuss the nonprofit’s outreach and his concerns for the Central American children and families crossing the border.
WASHINGTON BOUND
San Antonio Mayor Julián Castro’s time has finally come. In Washington D.C., Mayor Castro was officially confirmed as Housing and Urban Development Secretary. The Senate voted 71-26 to appoint Castro to the position.
We checked in from San Antonio, where Castro talked about his and the city’s political future. Plus, Harvey Kronberg from The Quorum Report sat down with us to review all the day’s issues, from immigration to political power games.
Capital Tonight: While Politicians Debate Border Issues, Volunteers Step In
Jul 8th - 7:45 pm
In Tuesday’s Capital Tonight, we heard how the Salvation Army and other groups are helping, and why they say the influx of immigrants goes beyond politics. Plus, we spoke to Rep. Dan Flynn about the call for UT Austin President Bill Powers to resign
CAPITAL COMMENTATORS
Political strategists Harold Cook and Ted Delisi joined us to talk about Perry, the president and the border crisis, along with how the location of hazardous materials in Texas is playing into the governor’s race.
CANDIDATE CONVERSATION
Republican Ken Paxton had to fight his way to the Republican nomination for attorney general. Now, the Democratic candidate for that office is making sure the general election is even tougher. Sam Houston joined us to talk about his run to be the state’s top lawyer.
Capital Tonight: What’s Next for UT President Powers?
Jul 7th - 7:30 pm
In Monday’s Capital Tonight, we heard how Powers and his supporters are responding.
BORDER DEBATE
Meanwhile, the political rhetoric on the border keeps getting hotter, with Republicans and Democrats criticizing the president’s response. We checked in on the latest on that story, plus state Rep. Tony Dale joined us in-studio for an update on the state’s response.
ON THE AGENDA
The Quorum Report‘s Harvey Kronberg joined us to give his take on the day’s political news.
Perry issues statement of support for Regent Hall
May 21st - 4:19 pm
Gov. Rick Perry today issued a statement of support for UT System Regent Wallace Hall. A select House committee is drawing up articles of impeachment against Hall, who has been accused of conducting a “witch hunt” against UT Austin President Bill Powers.
Here’s the governor’s statement:
“Wallace Hall should be commended for his persistence – in the face of overwhelming opposition from bureaucrats – in trying to ensure the institutions of higher education under his purview are operating effectively, efficiently and within the law. Hall is doing exactly what every regent and every appointee in the State of Texas should be doing: asking tough questions, gathering facts and searching for the truth. Even the chairman of the Board of Regents has said Hall did not commit an impeachable offense or a crime. Texans should be outraged by his treatment, and deeply concerned it will have a chilling effect on those who are tasked with the oversight of state agencies and institutions that they are responsible for.”