Inside Higher Ed
July 7th, 2014
Bill Powers, president of the University of Texas at Austin, enjoys the backing of student, faculty and alumni leaders. He has been held in high regard by university leaders nationally, serving as chair of the board of the Association of American Universities.
But his days as president may be numbered. Reports started circulating Friday -- in what faculty critics are calling a "July 4 coup" -- that Francisco Cigarroa, chancellor of the University of Texas System, had told Powers to either resign or face dismissal by the Board of Regents. The reports said that Powers has said that he is willing to talk about a retirement plan, but not to quit immediately. While UT system and Austin officials are not commenting on the reports, two anonymous sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to Inside Higher Ed both the ultimatum given to Powers and his response.
Faculty leaders are demanding that Cigarroa and the board stop trying to oust Powers, and have called a special faculty meeting for Wednesday to plot strategy. Numerous social media campaigns have been launched, some of which are linked to from the Twitter hashtag #savebillpowers. Some in Texas hope they can replicate the type of campaign that saved the job of Teresa Sullivan, who was fired and then reinstated by the board of the University of Virginia two years ago. In that case and in the case of Powers, a board moved against a president whom faculty and students wanted to retain.