Dive Brief:
- University of Texas System Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa has called for UT-Austin President Bill Powers to resign or be fired at the Board of Regents meeting on Thursday.
- Powers has refused to resign this week but is open to discussing a plan for stepping down.
- Cigarroa probably has the backing of a majority on the nine-member Board of Regents or he wouldn’t have delivered the ultimatum, the American-Statesman reported.
Dive Insight:
This back-and-forth drama has been ongoing for sometime. In April, Cigarroa asked Powers to step down, but said in December he wanted Powers to stay in the job because of improved relations with UT System officials and regents. Powers, a former dean of the university’s law school, became president of the Austin campus in 2006. The university is planning an investigation into allegations that family and friends of state legislators, who otherwise were not qualified for admission, were admitted anyway, thanks to Powers. One of the regents, state legislator Wallace Hall, is facing possible impeachment because of his voluminous records requests and alleged bullying of witnesses in his pursuit of an investigation of Powers. Meanwhile, student, alumni, and faculty groups have lined up to support the president.