Over 600 UT Austin faculty sign letter of no-confidence in President Hartzell

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hundreds of University of Texas at Austin faculty signed a letter saying they “no longer have confidence in President Jay Hartzell,” following a series of pro-Palestinian protests on campus over the last week.

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The UT Austin chapter of the American Association of University Professors was behind the letter, which was signed by more than 620 UT faculty members.

What did the letter say?

The letter states, “President [Hartzell] has shown himself to be unresponsive to urgent faculty, staff, and student concerns. He has violated our trust.”

The letter said Hartzell put people in danger by bringing state troopers to “forcibly disperse students gathering for a peaceful teach-in.”

The AAUP said it sent the letter to both Hartzell and the UT Faculty Council on Monday.

The letter demanded the following:

• Criminal charges be dropped against students and others

• Students not face disciplinary action at UT for the protest

• The university respects the First Amendment free speech rights of students and faculty

Hartzell’s explanation

In a statement released following the protest on April 24, Hartzell said, “The protesters tried to deliver on their stated intent to occupy campus. People not affiliated with UT joined them, and many ignored University officials’ continual pleas for restraint and to immediately disperse.”

Hartzell said the university was prepared, “with the necessary support to maintain campus operations and ensure the safety, well-being and learning environment for our more than 50,000 students.”

In a university statement following Monday’s protest, UT said 45 of the 79 people arrested on campus were not affiliated with the university.

Additionally, the university said “guns, buckets of large rocks and bricks” were confiscated during Monday’s protest.

What is the impact of a no-confidence vote?

Texas State University Political Science Professor William DeSoto said no-confidence votes don’t carry any legal or official power to remove officials.

“The appointments of university administrators are done by the Board of Regents,” DeSoto said. “The board of regents are appointed by the governor, and so they must make decisions about campus administrators.”

However, studies show they can lead to change.

The Chronicle of Higher Education looked at more than 230 no-confidence votes dating back to 1989. They found that a little more than half of presidents ended up leaving office within a year.

Ultimately, DeSoto said it speaks to the relationship between faculty and the president.

“This relationship is really important,” DeSoto said. “When the relationship is broken, I think this is damaging.”

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