Canary: Higher Ed Issues Landscape Report 12/02

December 2nd, 2024

A post-Thanksgiving look at UATX and the rise of civics centers on campus.

UATX and the rise of civics centers

During Thanksgiving week, CBS released a 60 Minutes segment on one of America’s newest colleges, the University of Austin.

Touted as the “anti-woke” university by much of the news media, The University of Austin (UATX) received its inaugural class this Fall. Meanwhile, at established universities, new centers and institutes are being innovated (and in some cases renovated) to meet the perceived public desire for a greater emphasis on free speech, open inquiry, civic-mindedness, and depoliticized campuses.

Main Takeaways:

• CBS portrayed UATX as a “college start-up” focused on free speech issues that is backed by wealthy donors mostly from the right.
• CBS interviewed students who spoke about the openness of class discussion, wanting to be challenged about their beliefs and befriending those they disagree with.
• CBS focused on UATX’s practice of the Chatham House Rule — what’s said in class stays in the class. UATX also prohibits cell phones in classrooms.

• CBS reported that UATX students average in the 92nd percentile of the SAT. Only one-third of admitted students at UATX are female.

• CBS placed UATX in the context of declining confidence in academia, campus protests and heightened political scrutiny. CBS asserted that perceptions of campus climate were a major factor in the election.

Reactions to the 60 Minutes piece were largely positive:

Further afield

Despite its media portrayal (and self-perception) as an academic innovation, UATX operates in an increasingly crowded field of academic centers and institutes dedicated to free speech, intellectual diversity and a generally more positive posture toward American history and values.

Donors and lawmakers have flocked to these centers and institutes, which they often see as an antidote to the current campus climate, specifically the sense that universities are places where America is denigrated and conservative speech is chilled.

However, this, in turn, has helped feed the negative view that such centers and institutes are right-wing trojan horses – or at least designed to provide administrators with political or intellectual cover from lawmakers and donors. As such, there is often a significant gap between owned and earned content portrayals of these endeavors.

“The Arizona State Legislature and ASU leadership should prioritize resources for the progressive institutions that exist at the University, not the Koch and conservative state Legislature-backed School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership.” - Aaron Stigile columnist (State Press)

“Informed patriotism should stretch beyond K-12 and into higher education. In many states, colleges and universities have become centers of anti-American thought, leaving students not only ill-equipped but confused.” - Tennessee Governor Bill Lee (UT Daily Beacon)

“Both left and right seem to worry about civic illiteracy. They disagree, however, about who’s failing the test. New academic initiatives are sweeping America’s public universities to address these concerns.” - Allen Mendenhall, Troy University (1819 News)

“Curricula and chalkboards have become a battleground in the culture wars.” - Asher Price (Axios Austin)

“Parents face a tough choice today. We want to give our kids the best education. But we’re leery about shipping them off to college campuses, many of which have devolved into little more than indoctrination centers. One friend put it bluntly: ‘I spent $300,000 sending my daughter to college and she came back a communist.’” - Stephen McBride (Radical Optimist Society)

Value and Values

Moving forward, new centers and institutes will need to manage these reputation-related risks in order to gain wider acceptance and credibility. In addition to countering the scent of partisan ambition, such endeavors must also clarify how their missions complement rather than encroach upon those of existing departments and schools, such as history, public affairs, and political science. This concern demonstrates how new centers and institutes must articulate a value/values approach to their brands that emphasize a solid ROI proposition, not just an intellectual one.

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Sources:

• American AF (@iAnonPatriot)
• Fox News (@FoxNews)
• Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu)

Legend Labs is a brand and communications consulting firm for the digital age. We help ambitious leaders create, grow, and protect their Legends. This analysis of reputation-related trends in higher education features insights from Meltwater and direct social media & web analysis.

For more information, email us at hello@legendlabs.com.