150-664: The Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), developed at the University of Texas at Austin , gives first-year students in the College of Natural Sciences the opportunity to conduct research in chemistry , biochemistry , nanotechnology , molecular biology , physics , astronomy and computer sciences . The pilot program started with 43 students in three Research Streams. Currently, about 1000 freshmen each year are enrolled in 35 different Research Streams within FRI. Each Research Stream (laboratory)
300-502: A grand jury on an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge but was not charged with any additional hate crime charge. A large student and faculty Pro-Palestinian protest occurred on April 24, 2024, demanding a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas War and that the university divest from companies profiting from Israel's actions. The protests occurred amidst the ongoing nationwide demonstrations on college campuses . In response,
450-469: A "loan plot" by American abolitionists, in league with Lord Aberdeen , British Foreign Secretary, to provide funds to the Texans in exchange for the emancipation of its slaves. Minister Everett was charged with determining the substance of these confidential reports alleging a Texas plot. His investigations, including personal interviews with Lord Aberdeen, concluded that British interest in abolitionist intrigues
600-413: A 10 PM curfew for all protests, directly contradicting prior guidelines. Initially, the university told students and faculty that arrested protestors would no longer be allowed on campus, but retracted the statement two hours later, stating that they would be allowed "academic" access, only to then announce a change to full access for university affiliates. Additionally, the university temporarily suspended
750-600: A House amendment on January 13, 1845, that was designed to enhance slaveowner gains in Texas beyond those offered by the Democratic-sponsored Tyler-Calhoun treaty bill. The legislation proposed to recognize Texas as a slave state which would retain all its vast public lands, as well as its bonded debt accrued since 1836. Furthermore, the Brown amendment would delegate to the U.S. government responsibility for negotiating
900-608: A contentious dispute erupted between Texas Governor James E. Ferguson and the University of Texas over faculty appointments. Ferguson's attempt to influence these appointments led to a retaliatory veto of the university's budget, jeopardizing its operations. Subsequently, Ferguson was impeached by the Texas House of Representatives , convicted by the Senate on charges including misapplication of public funds, and removed from office. In 1921,
1050-596: A convention on July 4, 1845, to consider the annexation and a constitution. On June 23, the Texan Congress accepted the US Congress's joint resolution of March 1, 1845, annexing Texas to the United States, and consented to the convention. On July 4, the Texas convention debated the annexation offer and almost unanimously passed an ordinance assenting to it. The convention remained in session through August 28, and adopted
1200-467: A corridor through which both free and enslaved African-Americans could be "diffused" southward in a gradual exodus that would ultimately supply labor to the Central American tropics, and in time, empty the United States of its slave population. This "safety-valve" theory "appealed to the racial fears of northern whites" who dreaded the prospect of absorbing emancipated slaves into their communities if
1350-439: A crash in the price of cotton, the country's main export commodity. The situation led to labor shortages, reduced tax revenue, large national debts and a diminished Texas militia. The Anglo-American immigrants residing in newly independent Texas overwhelmingly desired immediate annexation by the United States. But, despite his strong support for Texas independence from Mexico, then-President Andrew Jackson delayed recognizing
1500-495: A day after achieving a preliminary treaty draft agreement with the Texas Republic. The Princeton disaster proved a major setback for Texas annexation, in that Tyler expected Secretary Upshur to elicit critical support from Whig and Democratic Senators during the upcoming treaty ratification process. Tyler selected John C. Calhoun to replace Upshur as Secretary of State and to finalize the treaty with Texas. The choice of Calhoun,
1650-590: A general system of education when circumstances allowed. After Texas was annexed , the Seventh Texas Legislature passed O.B. 102 on February 11, 1858, allocating $ 100,000 in United States bonds from the Compromise of 1850 for the University of Texas. The Civil War delayed fund repayment, leaving the university with only $ 16,000 by 1865. Nevertheless, the Texas Constitution of 1876 reaffirmed
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#17328513025601800-465: A highly regarded but controversial American statesman, risked introducing a politically polarizing element into the Texas debates, but Tyler prized him as a strong advocate of annexation. With the Tyler-Upshur secret annexation negotiations with Texas near consummation, Senator Robert J. Walker of Mississippi, a key Tyler ally, issued a widely distributed and highly influential letter, reproduced as
1950-504: A historically black college, "a place where he is loved". The University of Texas at Austin has experienced a wave of new construction recently with several significant buildings. On April 30, 2006, the school opened the Blanton Museum of Art . In August 2008, the AT&;T Executive Education and Conference Center opened, with the hotel and conference center forming part of a new gateway to
2100-515: A letter to the US Minister to Great Britain, Edward Everett , conveying his displeasure with Britain's global anti-slavery posture, and warning their government that forays into Texas's affairs would be regarded as "tantamount to direct interference 'with the established institutions of the United States ' ". In a breach of diplomatic norms, Upshur leaked the communique to the press to inflame popular Anglophobic sentiments among American citizens. In
2250-658: A number of northern delegates, blocked anti-expansion candidate Martin Van Buren at the convention, which instead nominated the pro-expansion champion of Manifest Destiny, James K. Polk of Tennessee. Polk unified his party under the banner of Texas and Oregon acquisition. In August 1844, in the midst of the campaign, Tyler withdrew from the race. The Democratic Party was by then unequivocally committed to Texas annexation, and Tyler, assured by Polk's envoys that as president he would effect Texas annexation, urged his supporters to vote Democratic. Polk narrowly defeated Whig Henry Clay in
2400-470: A pamphlet, making the case for immediate annexation. In it, Walker argued that Texas could be acquired by Congress in a number of ways – all constitutional – and that the moral authority to do so was based on the precepts for territorial expansion established by Jefferson and Madison , and promulgated as doctrine by Monroe in 1823. Senator Walker's polemic offered analysis on the significance of Texas with respect to slavery and race. He envisioned Texas as
2550-457: A public school price, having been ranked in virtually every list of "Public Ivies" since Richard Moll coined the term in his 1985 book Public Ivies: A Guide to America's best public undergraduate colleges and universities . The seven other "Public Ivy" universities, according to Moll, were the College of William & Mary, Miami University, the University of California , the University of Michigan ,
2700-578: A result of a student referendum passed in 2006 which raised student fees by $ 65 per semester. In 2012, the Moody Foundation awarded the College of Communication $ 50 million, the largest endowment any communication college has received, so naming it the Moody College of Communication. The university operates two public radio stations, KUT with news and information, and KUTX with music, via local FM broadcasts as well as live streaming audio over
2850-523: A second term in the White House, and it became a deeply personal obsession for the president, who viewed the acquisition of Texas as the "primary objective of his administration". Tyler delayed direct action on Texas to work closely with his Secretary of State Daniel Webster on other pressing diplomatic initiatives. With the Webster–Ashburton Treaty ratified in 1843, Tyler was ready to make
3000-632: A state of the Union upon provisions authorized in the Constitution. Tyler's cabinet was split on the administration's handling of the Texas agreement. Secretary of War William Wilkins praised the terms of annexation publicly, touting the economic and geostrategic benefits with relation to Great Britain. Secretary of the Treasury John C. Spencer was alarmed at the constitutional implications of Tyler's application of military force without congressional approval,
3150-697: A takeover of Texas by the United Kingdom. When Tyler confirmed in September that the British Foreign Secretary Aberdeen had encouraged détente between Mexico and Texas, allegedly pressing Mexico to maneuver Texas towards emancipation of its slaves, Tyler acted at once. On September 18, 1843, in consultation with Secretary Upshur, he ordered secret talks opened with Texas Minister to the United States Isaac Van Zandt to negotiate
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#17328513025603300-652: A total of 155 Olympic medals . The idea of a public university in Texas was first mentioned in the 1827 constitution of the Mexican state of Coahuila y Tejas , which promised public education in the arts and sciences under Title 6, Article 217, but no action was taken. After Texas gained independence from Mexico in 1836, the Constitution of the Republic emphasized Congress's duty, in Section 5 of its General Provisions, to establish
3450-561: A transition to online classes for the rest of the spring semester after 49 confirmed COVID-19 cases emerged from students' travels to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, during spring break. Throughout the summer, the university reported over 400 cases and its first COVID-19-related death, a custodial worker. The fall 2020 semester consisted of a majority of online courses through platforms like Zoom. On August 6, 2020, UT Austin initiated plans for free COVID-19 tests for all students. UT Austin returned to primarily in-person classes and campus activities for
3600-453: A violation of the separation of powers. Refusing to transfer contingency funds for the naval mobilization, he resigned. Tyler submitted his treaty for annexation to the Senate, delivered April 22, 1844, where a two-thirds majority was required for ratification. Secretary of State Calhoun (assuming his post March 29, 1844) had sent a letter to British minister Richard Packenham denouncing British anti-slavery interference in Texas. He included
3750-611: A war with Mexico, whose government had outlawed slavery and refused to acknowledge the sovereignty of its rebellious northern province. With Texas's economic fortunes declining by the early 1840s, the President of the Texas Republic, Sam Houston , arranged talks with Mexico to explore the possibility of securing official recognition of independence, with the United Kingdom mediating. In 1843, U.S. President John Tyler , then unaligned with any political party, decided independently to pursue
3900-615: Is a public research university in Austin, Texas , United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System . With 52,384 students as of fall 2022, it is also the largest institution in the system. The university is a major center for academic research, with research expenditures totaling $ 1.06 billion for the 2023 fiscal year. It joined the Association of American Universities in 1929. The university houses seven museums and seventeen libraries, including
4050-522: Is led by a faculty member who provides guidance to their respective Research Streams, set goals and directions, and develop and teach the Research Experience courses to the students within their stream. Each Research Stream has its own dedicated lab, which is run by a research scientist dedicated to the stream. Major funding for this program was provided by National Science Foundation and Howard Hughes Medical Institute . Students who participate in
4200-679: Is listed as the third-best in the nation and The School of Information (iSchool) is sixth-best in Library and Information Sciences. Among other rankings, the School of Social Work is 7th, the Jackson School of Geosciences is 8th for Earth Sciences, the Cockrell School of Engineering is tied for 10th-best (with the undergraduate engineering program tied for 11th-best in the country), the Nursing School
4350-515: Is tied for 13th, the University of Texas School of Law is 15th, the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs is 7th, and the McCombs School of Business is tied for 16th-best (with the undergraduate business program tied for 5th-best in the country). The University of Texas School of Architecture was ranked second among national undergraduate programs in 2012. A 2005 Bloomberg survey ranked
4500-539: The 1844 United States presidential election approaching, the leadership in both the Democratic and Whig parties remained unequivocally opposed to the annexation of Texas. Texas-Mexico treaty options under consideration included an autonomous Texas within Mexico's borders, or an independent republic with the provision that Texas should emancipate its slaves upon recognition. Van Zandt, though he personally favored annexation by
4650-495: The Freshman Research Initiative and Texas Interdisciplinary Plan. The University of Texas at Austin encourages applicants to submit SAT / ACT scores, but it is not required. However, for students applying for admission from fall 2025 onwards, submission of SAT / ACT scores is mandatory as part of their undergraduate admission application. As of 2011, the university was one of the most selective universities in
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4800-592: The Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library and the Blanton Museum of Art , and operates various auxiliary research facilities, such as the J. J. Pickle Research Campus and the McDonald Observatory . UT Austin's athletics constitute the Texas Longhorns . The Longhorns have won four NCAA Division I National Football Championships, six NCAA Division I National Baseball Championships, thirteen NCAA Division I National Men's Swimming and Diving Championships, and
4950-540: The Panic of 1837 . The Texas "escape route" conceived by Walker promised to increase demand for slaves in fertile cotton-growing regions of Texas, as well as the monetary value of slaves. Cash-poor plantation owners in the older eastern South were promised a market for surplus slaves at a profit. Texas annexation, wrote Walker, would eliminate all these dangers and "fortify the whole Union." Walker's pamphlet brought forth strident demands for Texas from pro-slavery expansionists in
5100-494: The University of North Carolina , the University of Vermont , and the University of Virginia . The Accounting and Latin American History programs are consistently ranked top in the nation by the U.S. News & World Report college rankings, most recently in their 2023 and 2021 editions, respectively. More than 50 other science, humanities, and professional programs rank in the top 25 nationally. The College of Pharmacy
5250-544: The "preservation of all [Texas] property as secured in our domestic institutions." Upon the signing of the treaty, Tyler complied with the Texans' demand for military and naval protection, deploying troops to Fort Jesup in Louisiana and a fleet of warships to the Gulf of Mexico. In case the Senate failed to pass the treaty, Tyler promised the Texas diplomats that he would officially exhort both houses of Congress to establish Texas as
5400-566: The 1844 presidential campaigns. Now, northern Democrats found themselves vulnerable to charges of appeasement of their southern wing if they capitulated to Tyler's slavery expansion provisions. On the other hand, Manifest Destiny enthusiasm in the north placed politicians under pressure to admit Texas immediately to the Union. Constitutional objections were raised in House debates as to whether both houses of Congress could constitutionally authorize admission of territories, rather than states. Moreover, if
5550-605: The 2009–2010 academic year, the university awarded a total of 13,215 degrees: 67.7% bachelor's degrees , 22.0% master's degrees, 6.4% doctoral degrees , and 3.9% Professional degrees. In addition, the university has nine honors programs , eight of which span a variety of academic fields: Liberal Arts Honors, the Business Honors Program, the Turing Scholars Program in Computer Science, Engineering Honors,
5700-420: The 2020–2021 academic year, 79 freshman students were National Merit Scholars . The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) was ranked 32nd among all universities in the U.S. and 9th among public universities according to U.S. News & World Report ' s 2024 rankings. Internationally, UT Austin was tied for 56th in the 2024 "Best Global Universities" ranking by U.S. News & World Report , 45th in
5850-559: The 423.5 acres (171.4 ha) for the Main Campus in central Austin and the J. J. Pickle Research Campus in north Austin and the other properties throughout Texas. The main campus has 150 buildings totaling over 18,000,000 square feet (1,700,000 m ). One of the university's most visible features is the Beaux-Arts Main Building , including a 307-foot (94 m) tower designed by Paul Philippe Cret . Completed in 1937,
6000-905: The Dean's Scholars Program in Natural Sciences, the Health Science Scholars Program in Natural Sciences, the Polymathic Scholars Program in Natural Sciences, and the Undergraduate Nursing Honors Program in School of Nursing. The ninth is the Plan II Honors Program, a rigorous interdisciplinary program that is a major in and of itself. Many Plan II students pursue a second major, often participating in another department's honors program in addition to Plan II. The university also offers programs such as
6150-477: The FRI are 30-35% more likely to graduate with a science degree and 23% more likely to go to graduate school. In addition the program is significantly boosting the number of underrepresented students majoring in science, and approximately 103 students have been included as authors of published research papers. University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin ( UT Austin , UT , or Texas )
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6300-676: The House of Representatives to consider other constitutional means to authorize passage of the treaty. Congress adjourned before debating the matter. The same Senate that had rejected the Tyler–Calhoun treaty by a margin of 2:1 in June 1844 reassembled in December 1844 in a short lame-duck session . (Though pro-annexation Democrats had made gains in the fall elections, those legislators – the 29th Congress – would not assume office until March 1845.) Lame-duck President Tyler, still trying to annex Texas in
6450-683: The House-amended treaty. The fact that Senator Foster had drafted the House amendment under consideration improved prospects of Senate passage. Anti-annexation Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri had been the only Southern Democrat to vote against the Tyler-Texas measure in June 1844. His original proposal for an annexed Texas had embodied a national compromise, whereby Texas would be divided in two, half slave-soil and half free-soil. As pro-annexation sentiment grew in his home state, Benton retreated from this compromise offer. By February 5, 1845, in
6600-599: The Internet. The university uses CapMetro to provide bus transportation for students around the campus on the UT Shuttle system and throughout Austin, and UT students, faculty, and staff with an active UT ID card are able to ride public transportation without paying a fare. The university contains eighteen colleges and schools and one academic unit, each listed with its founding date: The University of Texas at Austin offers more than 100 undergraduate and 170 graduate degrees. In
6750-570: The Louisiana Purchase, a significant minority objected. Virginian editor Thomas Ritchie of the Richmond Enquirer predicted that with the proviso restrictions, the South would ultimately require Texas: "If we are cooped up on the north, we must have elbow room to the west." Representative John Floyd of Virginia in 1824 accused Secretary of State Adams of conceding Texas to Spain in 1819 in
6900-479: The Main Building is in the middle of campus. The tower usually appears illuminated in white light in the evening but is lit burnt orange for various special occasions, including athletic victories and academic accomplishments; conversely, it is darkened for solemn occasions. At the top of the tower is a carillon of 56 bells, the largest in Texas. Songs are played on weekdays by student carillonneurs, in addition to
7050-502: The Mexican army at the Battle of San Jacinto . In June 1836 while held prisoner by the Texians, Santa Anna signed an agreement for Texas independence, but the Mexican government refused to ratify the agreement made under duress. Texians, now de facto independent, recognized that their security and prosperity could never be achieved while Mexico denied the legitimacy of their revolution. In
7200-556: The Mexican government, without success. Spanish and indigenous immigrants, primarily from northeastern provinces of New Spain , began to settle Texas in the late 17th century. The Spanish constructed Catholic missions and presidios in what is today Louisiana, east Texas, and south Texas. The first missions were designed for the Tejas Indians, near Los Adaes . Soon thereafter, the San Antonio Missions were founded along
7350-502: The November election. The victorious Democrats were poised to acquire Texas under President-elect Polk's doctrine of Manifest Destiny, rather than on the pro-slavery agenda of Tyler and Calhoun. As a treaty document with a foreign nation, the Tyler-Texas annexation treaty required the support of a two-thirds majority in the Senate for passage. But in fact, when the Senate voted on the measure on June 8, 1844, fully two-thirds voted against
7500-481: The Office of Technology Commercialization, a technology transfer center which serves as the bridge between laboratory research and commercial development. In 2009, the university created nine new start-up companies to commercialize technology developed at the university and has created 46 start-ups in the past seven years. License agreements generated $ 10.9 million in revenue for the university in 2009. In January 2020,
7650-649: The Packenham Letter with the Tyler bill, intending to create a sense of crisis in Southern Democrats. In it, he characterized slavery as a social blessing and the acquisition of Texas as an emergency measure necessary to safeguard the "peculiar institution" in the United States. In doing so, Tyler and Calhoun sought to unite the South in a crusade that would present the North with an ultimatum: support Texas annexation or lose
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#17328513025607800-457: The Republic of Texas into emancipating its slaves, forecasting a dangerous destabilizing influence on southwestern slaveholding states. The pamphlet characterized abolitionists as traitors who conspired with the British to overthrow the United States. A variation of the Tyler's "diffusion" theory, it played on economic fears in a period when slave-based staple crop markets had not yet recovered from
7950-414: The Republic of Texas, a nation in its own right, were admitted as a state, its territorial boundaries, property relations (including slave property), debts and public lands would require a Senate-ratified treaty. Democrats were particularly uneasy about burdening the United States with $ 10 million in Texas debt, resenting the deluge of speculators, who had bought Texas bonds cheap and now lobbied Congress for
8100-570: The SAT and ACT standardized exams were "a proven differentiator that is in each student's and the University's best interest." On April 2, 2024, the University of Texas at Austin announced additional adjustments in compliance with Senate Bill 17, particularly in response to a letter from March 26, 2024 from Texas State Senator Brandon Creighton , which led to the layoff of approximately 60 individuals, most of whom formerly worked in DEI-related programs, and
8250-689: The San Antonio River. The City of San Antonio , then known as San Fernando de Bexar, was founded in 1718. In the early 1760s, José de Escandón created five settlements along the Rio Grande River, including Laredo. Anglo-American immigrants, primarily from the Southern United States , began emigrating to Mexican Texas in the early 1820s at the invitation of the Texas faction of the Coahuila y Tejas state government, which sought to populate
8400-400: The Senate special session had adjourned on March 20, 1845, no names for US commissioners to Texas had been submitted by him. Polk denied charges from Senator Benton that he had misled Benton on his intention to support the new negotiations option, declaring "if any such pledges were made, it was in a total misconception of what I said or meant." On May 5, 1845, Texas President Jones called for
8550-438: The South, than southern Democrats." The bill also served to distinguish them from their northern Whig colleagues who cast the controversy, as Calhoun did, in strictly pro- versus anti-slavery terms. While almost all Northern Whigs spurned Brown's amendment, the Democrats quickly co-opted the legislation, providing the votes necessary to attach the proviso to Tyler's joint resolution, by a 118–101 vote. Southern Democrats supported
8700-417: The South. President Tyler expected that his treaty would be debated secretly in Senate executive session. However, less than a week after debates opened, the treaty, its associated internal correspondence, and the Packenham letter were leaked to the public. The nature of the Tyler-Texas negotiations caused a national outcry, in that "the documents appeared to verify that the sole objective of Texas annexation
8850-482: The South; in the North, it allowed anti-slavery expansionists to embrace Texas without appearing to be aligned with pro-slavery extremists. His assumptions and analysis "shaped and framed the debates on annexation but his premises went largely unchallenged among the press and public. The Tyler-Texas treaty, signed on April 12, 1844, was framed to induct Texas into the Union as a territory, following constitutional protocols. To wit, Texas would cede all its public lands to
9000-537: The Texas House bill. House Democrats, at an impasse, relinquished the legislative initiative to the southern Whigs. Anti-Texas Whig legislators had lost more than the White House in the general election of 1844. In the southern states of Tennessee and Georgia, Whig strongholds in the 1840 general election, voter support dropped precipitously over the pro-annexation excitement in the Deep South—and Clay lost every Deep South state to Polk. Northern Whigs' uncompromising hostility to slavery expansion increasingly characterized
9150-430: The Texas lands – three likely to qualify as slave states – Brown's plan would permit Texas state lawmakers to configure a total of five states from its western region, with those south of the 36°30’ Missouri Compromise line pre-authorized to permit slavery upon statehood, if Texas designated them as such. Politically, the Brown amendment was designed to portray Southern Whigs as "even more ardent champions of slavery and
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#17328513025609300-476: The United States, J.Res. 8, enacted March 1, 1845, 5 Stat. 797 ). Senate and House legislators who had favored Benton's renegotiated version of the Texas annexation bill had been assured that President Tyler would sign the joint house measure, but leave its implementation to the incoming Polk administration. But, during his last full day in office, President Tyler, with the urging of his Secretary of State Calhoun, decided to act decisively to improve
9450-458: The United States, and Latin America. The Perry–Castañeda Library , which houses the central University Libraries operations and the Perry–Castañeda Library Map Collection , is at the heart of campus. The Benson Latin American Collection holds the largest collection of Latin American materials among US university libraries, and maintains substantial digital collections. The University of Texas at Austin has an extensive tunnel system that links
9600-423: The United States, and the federal government would assume all its bonded debt, up to $ 10 million. The boundaries of the Texas territory were left unspecified. Four new states could ultimately be carved from the former republic – three of them likely to become slave states. Any allusion to slavery was omitted from the document so as not to antagonize anti-slavery sentiments during Senate debates, but it provided for
9750-611: The United States, was not authorized to entertain any overtures from the US government on the subject. Texas officials were at the moment deeply engaged in exploring settlements with Mexican diplomats, facilitated by Great Britain. Texas's predominant concern was not British interference with the institution of slavery – English diplomats had not alluded to the issue – but the avoidance of any resumption of hostilities with Mexico. Still, US Secretary of State Upshur vigorously exhorted Texas diplomats to begin annexation talks, finally dispatching an appeal to President Sam Houston in January 1844. In
9900-410: The University of Texas Austin's Texas Innovation Center was established to provide support for startups. Texas annexation The Republic of Texas was annexed into the United States and admitted to the Union as the 28th state on December 29, 1845. The Republic of Texas declared independence from the Republic of Mexico on March 2, 1836. It applied for annexation to the United States
10050-543: The University of Texas was inducted into the Association of American Universities . During World War II , the University of Texas was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program which offered students a path to a Navy commission. Additionally, to facilitate the wartime effort, academic calendars were compressed, allowing for accelerated graduation. After Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, Houston, Texas, area teen Marion Ford had been accepted to become one of
10200-402: The Whig party, quickly began to organize a third party in hopes of inducing the Democrats to embrace a pro-expansionist platform. By running as a third-party candidate, Tyler threatened to siphon off pro-annexation Democratic voters; Democratic party disunity would mean the election of Henry Clay, a staunchly anti-Texas Whig. Pro-annexation delegates among southern Democrats, with assistance from
10350-404: The White House in 1841. William Henry Harrison , Whig Party presidential nominee, defeated US President Martin Van Buren in the 1840 general election. Upon Harrison's death shortly after his inauguration, Vice-President John Tyler assumed the presidency. President Tyler was expelled from the Whig party in 1841 for repeatedly vetoing their domestic finance legislation. Tyler, isolated and outside
10500-423: The annexation measure stalled in the US Senate, Texas could face a war alone against Mexico. Because only Congress could declare war, the Tyler administration lacked the constitutional authority to commit the US to support of Texas. But when Secretary Upshur provided a verbal assurance of military defense, President Houston, responding to urgent calls for annexation from the Texas Congress of December 1843, authorized
10650-464: The annexation of Texas his "top priority". Representative Thomas W. Gilmer of Virginia was authorized by the administration to make the case for annexation to the American electorate. In a widely circulated open letter, understood as an announcement of the executive branch's designs for Texas, Gilmer described Texas as a panacea for North-South conflict and an economic boon to all commercial interests. The slavery issue, however divisive, would be left for
10800-501: The annexation of Texas in a bid to gain a base of support for another four years in office. His official motivation was to outmaneuver suspected diplomatic efforts by the British government for the emancipation of slaves in Texas, which would undermine slavery in the United States . Through secret negotiations with the Houston administration, Tyler secured a treaty of annexation in April 1844. When
10950-494: The annexation of Texas. Face-to-face negotiations commenced on October 16, 1843. By the summer of 1843 Sam Houston's Texas administration had returned to negotiations with the Mexican government to consider a rapprochement that would permit Texas self-governance, possibly as a state of Mexico, with Great Britain acting as mediator. Texas officials felt compelled by the fact that the Tyler administration appeared unequipped to mount an effective campaign for Texas annexation. With
11100-583: The anti-slavery northern Whig opposition – especially if annexation provoked a war with Mexico. Presented with a formal annexation proposal from Texas minister Memucan Hunt Jr. in August 1837, Van Buren summarily rejected it. Annexation resolutions presented separately in each house of Congress were either soundly defeated or tabled through filibuster . In 1838, Texas President Mirabeau B. Lamar withdrew his republic's offer of annexation over these failures. Texians were at an annexation impasse when John Tyler entered
11250-439: The appeal, Upshur assured Houston that the political climate in the United States was currently amenable to Texas statehood and that a two-thirds majority in Senate could be obtained to ratify a Texas treaty. Texans were hesitant to pursue a US-Texas treaty without a written commitment of military defense from America, since a full-scale military attack by Mexico seemed likely when the negotiations became public. If ratification of
11400-402: The bill almost unanimously (59–1), while Northern Democrats split strongly in favor (50–30). Eight of eighteen Southern Whigs cast their votes in favor. Northern Whigs unanimously rejected it. The House proceeded to approve the amended Texas treaty 120–98 on January 25, 1845. The vote in the House had been one in which party affiliation prevailed over sectional allegiance. The bill was forwarded
11550-405: The buildings on campus. Constructed c. 1928 under the supervision of UT engineering professor Carl J. Eckhardt Jr., then head of the physical plant, the tunnels have grown along with the campus. They measure approximately six miles in length. The tunnel system is used for communications and utility service. It is closed to the public and guarded by silent alarms . Since the late 1940s,
11700-405: The closure on April 2, 2024, leading the charter school to be moved to the College of Education . On February 4, 2024, a Palestinian-American student at a pro-Palestinian protest at the campus was stabbed, receiving non-life-threatening injuries. The attacker used a racial slur against the protestors and the attack was investigated as a hate crime. A month later the attacker was indicted by
11850-429: The confirmed arrest of 57 protesters, including a photojournalist for Fox 7 Austin, with several more detained. Charges were then dismissed against 46 protesters the next day, leading to their subsequent release, with the charges against the remaining 11 protesters dropped on April 26, 2024. This decision received sharp backlash, including from general faculty, staff, students, several Democratic legislators for
12000-535: The constitutional requirement of a two-thirds majority in the Senate. Bringing the House of Representatives into the equation boded well for Texas annexation, as the pro-annexation Democratic Party possessed nearly a 2:1 majority in that chamber. By resubmitting the discredited treaty through a House-sponsored bill, the Tyler administration reignited sectional hostilities over Texas admission. Both northern Democratic and southern Whig Congressmen had been bewildered by local political agitation in their home states during
12150-578: The disputed Texas-Mexico boundary. The issue was a critical one, as the size of Texas would be immensely increased if the international border were set at the Rio Grande River, with its headwaters in the Rocky Mountains, rather than the traditionally recognized boundary at the Nueces River, 100 miles to the north. While the Tyler-Calhoun treaty provided for the organization of a total of four states from
12300-496: The documents were submitted to the U.S. Senate for ratification, the details of the terms of annexation became public and the question of acquiring Texas took center stage in the presidential election of 1844 . Pro-Texas-annexation southern Democratic delegates denied their anti-annexation leader Martin Van Buren the nomination at their party's convention in May 1844. In alliance with pro-expansion northern Democratic colleagues, they secured
12450-416: The dual alternative treaty bill. On February 27, 1845, less than a week before Polk's inauguration, the Senate voted 27–25 to admit Texas, based on the Tyler protocols of simple majority passage. All twenty-four Democrats voted for the measure, joined by three southern Whigs. Benton and his allies were assured that Polk would act to establish the eastern portion of Texas as a slave state; the western section
12600-540: The early debates on the Brown-amended House bill, he advanced an alternative resolution that, unlike the Brown scenario, made no reference whatsoever to the ultimate free-slave apportionment of an annexed Texas and simply called for five bipartisan commissioners to resolve border disputes with Texas and Mexico and set conditions for the Lone Star Republic's acquisition by the United States. The Benton proposal
12750-588: The eastern side of the main campus, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum is one of 13 presidential libraries administered by the National Archives and Records Administration . A statue of Martin Luther King Jr. was unveiled on campus in 1999 and subsequently vandalized. By 2004, John Butler, a professor at the McCombs School of Business suggested moving it to Morehouse College ,
12900-482: The eastern states of bondsmen and making emancipation feasible in the old South. This doctrine would be revived during the Texas annexation controversy. When Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821, the United States did not contest the new republic's claims to Texas, and both presidents John Quincy Adams (1825–1829) and Andrew Jackson (1829–1837) persistently sought, through official and unofficial channels, to procure all or portions of provincial Texas from
13050-498: The elimination of the newly-renamed Division of Campus and Community Engagement. Students, faculty, staff, and outside critics denounced the university's over-compliance with the anti-DEI law, since the university had already been compliant since January 1, 2024. At a UT Austin Faculty Council meeting on April 15, 2024, in response to mounting criticism, President Jay Hartzell stated the additional changes were made in response to
13200-410: The eventual acquisition of its fertile lands. The Missouri crisis of 1819–1821 sharpened commitments to expansionism among the country's slaveholding interests, when the so-called Thomas proviso established the 36°30' parallel , imposing free-soil and slave-soil futures in the Louisiana Purchase lands. While a majority of southern congressmen acquiesced to the exclusion of slavery from the bulk of
13350-492: The fall 2021 semester, implementing safety protocols like testing requirements and vaccination incentives to ensure a safe return amid the ongoing pandemic. In 2024, after four years of test-optional admissions for undergraduate applications due to the COVID-19 pandemic, standardized testing scores were once again made a mandatory part of admissions, beginning with applications for the fall 2025 semester. Jay Hartzell commented that
13500-446: The final months of his administration, wished to avoid another overwhelming Senate rejection of his treaty. In his annual address to Congress on December 4, he declared the Polk victory a mandate for Texas annexation and proposed that Congress adopt a joint resolution procedure by which simple majorities in each house could secure ratification for the Tyler treaty. This method would avoid
13650-605: The first Black attendees. In an interview with a reporter he announced his desire to try-out for the football team. The Ford Crisis would begin and all Black admissions at the time were rescinded until policy could be drawn up. In the fall of 1956, the first Black students entered the university's undergraduate class. Black students were permitted to live in campus dorms, but were barred from campus cafeterias. The University of Texas integrated its facilities and desegregated its dormitories in 1965. UT, which had had an open admissions policy, adopted standardized testing for admissions in
13800-470: The following day, he encouraged Texas to accept Tyler’s offer. Texas ratified the agreement with popular approval from Texians. The bill was signed by President Polk on December 29, 1845, accepting Texas as the 28th state of the Union. Texas formally joined the union on February 19, 1846, prompting the Mexican–American War in April of that year. First mapped by Spain in 1519, for over 300 years Texas
13950-402: The institution of slavery collapsed in the South. This scheme for racial cleansing was consistent, on a pragmatic level, with proposals for overseas colonization of blacks , which were pursued by a number of American presidents, from Jefferson to Lincoln. Walker bolstered his position by raising national security concerns, warning that in the event annexation failed, Great Britain would maneuver
14100-508: The interests of Northern anti-slavery advocates, and so depriving the South of additional slave states. Then-Representative John Tyler of Virginia invoked the Jeffersonian precepts of territorial and commercial growth as a national goal to counter the rise of sectional differences over slavery. His "diffusion" theory declared that with Missouri open to slavery, the new state would encourage the transfer of underutilized slaves westward, emptying
14250-542: The legal fiction of 'permanent indentured servitude', similar to Mexico's peonage system. A general lawlessness prevailed in the vast Texas frontier, and Mexico's laws went largely unenforced among the Anglo-American settlers. In particular, the prohibitions against slavery and forced labor, as well as the requirement that all settlers be Catholic or convert to Catholicism were ignored. Mexican authorities, perceiving that they were losing control over Texas and alarmed by
14400-476: The legislation to Polk's discretion when he took office. In private and separate talks with supporters of both the Brown and Benton plans, Polk left each side with the "impression he would administer their [respective] policy. Polk meant what he said to Southerners and meant to appear friendly to the Van Burenite faction." Polk's handling of the matter had the effect of uniting Senate northern Democrats in favor of
14550-629: The legislature appropriated $ 1.35 million for the purchase of land next to the main campus. However, expansion was hampered by the restriction against using state revenues to fund construction of university buildings as set forth in Article 7, Section 14 of the Constitution. With the completion of Santa Rita No. 1 well and the discovery of oil on university-owned lands in 1923, the university added significantly to its Permanent University Fund. The additional income from Permanent University Fund investments allowed for bond issues in 1931 and 1947, which allowed
14700-645: The legislature to address funding for the university along with the Agricultural and Mechanical College (now known as Texas A&M University ). With sufficient funds to finance construction on both campuses, on April 8, 1931, the Forty Second Legislature passed H.B. 368. which dedicated the Agricultural and Mechanical College a 1/3 interest in the Available University Fund, the annual income from Permanent University Fund investments. In 1929,
14850-616: The limits of the United States' extensive western lands and of Spain's vast possessions in North America. The Florida Purchase Treaty of February 22, 1819 emerged as a compromise that excluded Spain from the lower Columbia River drainage basin , but established southern boundaries at the Sabine and Red Rivers , "legally extinguish[ing]" any American claims to Texas. Nonetheless, Texas remained an object of fervent interest to American expansionists, among them Thomas Jefferson , who anticipated
15000-735: The mandate to establish "The University of Texas" by popular vote. On March 30, 1881, the Texas legislature organized the structure of the university and called for a popular vote to determine its location. Austin was chosen as the site with 30,913 votes, while Galveston was designated for the medical department. On November 17, 1882, the cornerstone of the Old Main building was laid at the original "College Hill" location, and University President Ashbel Smith expressed optimism about Texas's untapped resources. The University of Texas officially opened its doors on September 15, 1883. The old Main Building of
15150-406: The mid-1950s, at least in part as a conscious strategy to minimize the number of Black undergraduates, given that they were no longer able to simply bar their entry after the Brown decision Following growth in enrollment after World War II, the university unveiled an ambitious master plan in 1960 designed for "10 years of growth" that was intended to "boost the University of Texas into the ranks of
15300-423: The middle 50% ranged from 26 to 31. In terms of class rank, 74.4% of enrolled freshmen were in the top 10% of their high school classes and 91.7% ranked in the top quarter. For fall 2019, 53,525 undergraduate students applied, 17,029 undergraduate students were admitted, and 8,170 undergraduate students enrolled in the university full or part time, making the acceptance rate 31.8% and enrollment rate 48% overall. In
15450-454: The nation, behind only Georgia Tech . A 2013 College Database study found that UT Austin was 22nd in the nation in terms of increased lifetime earnings by graduates. UT Austin is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity." For the 2014–2015 cycle, the university was awarded over $ 580 million in sponsored projects, and has earned more than 300 patents since 2003. The University of Texas at Austin houses
15600-540: The negotiations. In tandem with moving forward with Texas diplomats, Upshur was secretly lobbying US senators to support annexation, providing lawmakers with persuasive arguments linking Texas acquisition to national security and domestic peace. In early 1844, Upshur assured Texas officials that 40 of the 52 members of the Senate were pledged to ratify the Tyler-Texas treaty — more than the two-thirds majority required for ratification. In his annual address to Congress in December 1843, Tyler maintained his silence with respect to
15750-524: The new republic until the last day of his presidency to avoid raising the issue during the 1836 general election. Jackson's political caution was dictated by northern concerns that Texas could potentially form several new slave states and undermine the North-South balance in Congress. Jackson's successor, President Martin Van Buren , viewed Texas annexation as an immense political liability that would empower
15900-608: The nomination of James K. Polk , who ran on a pro-Texas Manifest destiny platform. In June 1844, the Senate, with its Whig majority, soundly rejected the Tyler–Texas treaty. Later that year, the pro-annexation Democrat Polk narrowly defeated anti-annexation Whig Henry Clay in the 1844 presidential election . In December 1844, lame-duck President Tyler called on Congress to pass his treaty by simple majorities in each house. The Democratic-dominated House of Representatives complied with his request by passing an amended bill expanding on
16050-460: The observation deck in the tower of the Main Building. Armed with multiple firearms, he killed 14 people on campus, 11 from the observation deck and below the clocks on the tower, and three more in the tower, as well as wounding two others inside the observation deck. The massacre ended when Whitman was shot and killed by police after they breached the tower. After the Whitman event, the observation deck
16200-461: The odds for the immediate annexation of Texas. On March 3, 1845, with his cabinet's assent, he dispatched an offer of annexation to the Republic of Texas by courier, exclusively under the terms of the Brown–Foster option of the joint house measure. Secretary Calhoun apprised President-elect Polk of the action, who demurred without comment. Tyler justified his preemptive move on the grounds that Polk
16350-525: The party, and southern members, by association, had suffered from charges of being "soft on Texas, therefore soft on slavery" by Southern Democrats. Facing congressional and gubernatorial races in 1845 in their home states, a number of Southern Whigs sought to erase that impression with respect to the Tyler-Texas bill. Southern Whigs in the Congress, including Representative Milton Brown and Senator Ephraim Foster , both of Tennessee, and Representative Alexander Stephens of Georgia collaborated to introduce
16500-483: The pro-slavery provisions of the Tyler treaty. The Senate narrowly passed a compromise version of the House bill, designed to provide President-elect Polk the options of immediate annexation of Texas or new talks to revise the annexation terms of the House-amended bill. On March 1, 1845, President Tyler signed the annexation bill, and on March 3 (his last full day in office), he forwarded the House version to Texas, offering immediate annexation. When Polk took office at noon
16650-483: The region, and First Amendment advocacy groups, including an official statement from the UT Faculty Council Executive Committee denouncing it, in part due to the extreme, chaotic, and violent police response that ensued and alleged violations of First Amendment rights. The university additionally set new rules for protests on campus, such as banning masks and face coverings and instituting
16800-453: The region. Relative to other universities in the state of Texas, UT Austin was second to Rice University in selectivity according to a Business Journal study weighing acceptance rates and the mid-range of the SAT and ACT. The University of Texas at Austin was ranked as the 18th most selective in the South. As a state public university, UT Austin was subject to Texas House Bill 588 , which guaranteed Texas high school seniors graduating in
16950-463: The reopening of annexation negotiations. As Secretary Upshur accelerated the secret treaty discussions, Mexican diplomats learned that US-Texas talks were taking place. Mexican minister to the U.S. Juan Almonte confronted Upshur with these reports, warning him that if Congress sanctioned a treaty of annexation, Mexico would break diplomatic ties and immediately declare war. Secretary Upshur denied any knowledge of these reports and pressed forward with
17100-524: The same day Congress would end its session. With his arrival in the capital, he discovered the Benton and Brown factions in the Senate "paralyzed" over the Texas annexation legislation. On the advice of his soon-to-be Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker , Polk urged Senate Democrats to unite under a dual resolution that would include both the Benton and Brown versions of annexation, leaving enactment of
17250-543: The same day to the Senate for debate. By early February 1845, when the Senate began to debate the Brown-amended Tyler treaty, its passage seemed unlikely, as support was "perishing". The partisan alignments in the Senate were near parity, 28–24, slightly in favor of the Whigs. The Senate Democrats would require undivided support among their colleagues, and three or more Whigs who would be willing to cross party lines to pass
17400-685: The same year, but was rejected by the United States Secretary of State . At that time, the majority of the Texian population favored the annexation of the Republic by the United States. The leadership of both major U.S. political parties (the Democrats and the Whigs ) opposed the introduction of Texas — a vast slave-holding region — into the volatile political climate of the pro- and anti-slavery sectional controversies in Congress. Moreover, they wished to avoid
17550-426: The school 5th among all business schools and first among public business schools for the largest number of alumni who are S&P 500 CEOs. Similarly, a 2005 USA Today report ranked the university as "the number one source of new Fortune 1000 CEOs". A "payback" analysis published by SmartMoney in 2011 comparing graduates' salaries to tuition costs concluded the school was the second-best value of all colleges in
17700-550: The school has claimed more titles in men's and women's sports than any other member in the Big 12 . As of 2020, 13 Nobel Prize winners, 25 Pulitzer Prize winners, three Turing Award winners, two Fields Medal recipients, two Wolf Prize winners, and three Abel Prize winners have been affiliated with the school as alumni, faculty members, or researchers. The university has also been affiliated with three Primetime Emmy Award winners, and as of 2021, its students and alumni have earned
17850-499: The secret negotiations so as not to damage relations with the wary Texas diplomats. Throughout, Tyler did his utmost to keep the negotiations secret, making no public reference to his administration's single-minded quest for Texas. The Tyler-Texas treaty was in its final stages when its chief architects, Secretary Upshur and Secretary of the Navy Thomas W. Gilmer , died in an accident aboard USS Princeton on February 28, 1844, just
18000-450: The sixth floor, before killing himself. No one else was injured, except for one sprained ankle suffered by a female student fleeing the scene. In early 2020, following a major outbreak of the new coronavirus , the university restricted travel to Wuhan province in China, aligning with the U.S. Department of State's recommendation. By March 17, 2020, then-UT President Gregory L. Fenves announced
18150-492: The southeast, in hopes of using the land to relocate the university's intramural fields, baseball field, tennis courts, and parking lots. On March 6, 1967, the Sixtieth Texas Legislature changed the university's official name from "The University of Texas" to "The University of Texas at Austin" to reflect the growth of the University of Texas System . On August 1, 1966, Texas student Charles Whitman barricaded
18300-400: The sparsely inhabited lands of its northern frontier for cotton production . Colonizing empresario Stephen F. Austin managed the regional affairs of the mostly American-born population – 20% of them slaves – under the terms of the generous government land grants. Mexican authorities were initially content to govern the remote province through salutary neglect , "permitting slavery under
18450-452: The spring of 1843, the Tyler administration had sent executive agent Duff Green to Europe to gather intelligence and arrange territorial treaty talks with Great Britain regarding Oregon; he also worked with American minister to France, Lewis Cass , to thwart efforts by major European powers to suppress the maritime slave trade. Green reported to Secretary Upshur in July 1843 that he had discovered
18600-685: The states to decide as per the US Constitution. Domestic tranquility and national security, Tyler argued, would result from an annexed Texas; a Texas left outside American jurisdiction would imperil the Union. Tyler adroitly arranged the resignation of his anti-annexation Secretary of State Daniel Webster, and on June 23, 1843 appointed Abel P. Upshur , a Virginia states' rights champion and ardent proponent of Texas annexation. This cabinet shift signaled Tyler's intent to pursue Texas annexation aggressively. In late September 1843, in an effort to cultivate public support for Texas, Secretary Upshur dispatched
18750-805: The student organization that organized the protests, the Palestine Solidarity Committee. Travis County Attorney Delia Garza stated that the way that the university handled the protests put a strain on the local criminal justice system, specifically reprimanding the sending of protestors to jail for low-level charges. A report later released by the UT Austin Committee of Counsel on Academic Freedom and Responsibility (CCAFR) on July 17, 2024 found that UT Austin administrators violated its own institutional rules in clear disregard of freedom of speech and expression protections. The university's property totals 1,438.5 acres (582.1 ha), comprising
18900-489: The threats from the Republican -led State Legislature and the University of Texas System Board of Regents, and to restore "confidence" in the university, reacting to changing tides in public opinion towards higher education amongst Republicans. The university's Division of Campus and Community Engagement operated the University of Texas-University Charter School , a charter school system with 23 campuses across Texas, until
19050-410: The top 10% of their class admission to any public Texas university. A new state law granting UT Austin (but no other state university) a partial exemption from the top 10% rule, Senate Bill 175, was passed by the 81st Legislature in 2009. It modified this admissions policy by limiting automatically admitted freshmen to 75% of the entering in-state freshman class, starting in 2011. The university will admit
19200-517: The top one percent, the top two percent and so forth until the cap is reached; the university currently admits the top 6 percent. Furthermore, students admitted under Texas House Bill 588 are not guaranteed their choice of college or major, but rather only guaranteed admission to the university as a whole. Many colleges, such as the Cockrell School of Engineering, have secondary requirements that must be met for admission. For others who go through
19350-577: The top state universities in the nation." In 1965, the Texas Legislature granted the university Board of Regents to use eminent domain to purchase additional properties surrounding the original 40 acres (160,000 m ). The university began buying parcels of land to the north, south, and east of the existing campus, particularly in the Blackland neighborhood to the east and the Brackenridge tract to
19500-582: The traditional application process, selectivity is deemed "more selective" according to the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and by U.S. News & World Report . For fall 2017, 51,033 applied and 18,620 were accepted (36.5%), and of those accepted, 45.2% enrolled. Among freshman students who enrolled in fall 2017, SAT scores for the middle 50% ranged from 570 to 690 for critical reading and 600–710 for math. ACT composite scores for
19650-419: The treaty (16–35). The vote went largely along party lines: Whigs had opposed it almost unanimously (1–27), while Democrats split, but voted overwhelmingly in favor (15–8). The election campaign had hardened partisan positions on Texas among Democrats. Tyler had anticipated that the measure would fail, largely because of the divisive effects of Secretary Calhoun's Packenham letter. Undeterred, he formally asked
19800-597: The two-party mainstream, turned to foreign affairs to salvage his presidency, aligning himself with a southern states' rights faction that shared his fervent slavery expansionist views. In his first address to Congress in special session on June 1, 1841, Tyler set the stage for Texas annexation by announcing his intention to pursue an expansionist agenda so as to preserve the balance between state and national authority and to protect American institutions, including slavery, so as to avoid sectional conflict. Tyler's closest advisors counseled him that obtaining Texas would assure him
19950-465: The university broke ground on the $ 120 million Bill & Melinda Gates Computer Science Complex and Dell Computer Science Hall and the $ 51 million Belo Center for New Media, both of which are now complete. The new LEED gold-certified, 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m ) Student Activity Center (SAC) opened in January 2011, housing study rooms, lounges and food vendors. The SAC was constructed as
20100-489: The university has generated its own electricity. Today its natural gas cogeneration plant has a capacity of 123 MW. The university also operates a TRIGA nuclear reactor at the J. J. Pickle Research Campus . The university continues to expand its facilities on campus. In 2010, the university opened the state-of-the-art Norman Hackerman building (on the site of the former Experimental Sciences Building) housing chemistry and biology research and teaching laboratories. In 2010,
20250-419: The university was built in a Victorian - Gothic style and served as the central point of the campus's 40-acre (16 ha) site, and was used for nearly all purposes. But by the 1930s, discussions arose about the need for new library space, and the Main Building was razed in 1934, despite the objections of many students and faculty. The modern-day tower and Main Building were constructed in its place. In 1916,
20400-534: The university's Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center include one of only 21 remaining complete copies of the Gutenberg Bible and the first permanent photograph, View from the Window at Le Gras , taken by Nicéphore Niépce . The newest museum, the 155,000-square-foot (14,400 m ) Blanton Museum of Art , is the largest university art museum in the United States and hosts approximately 17,000 works from Europe,
20550-585: The university, under the explicit direction of President Hartzell, requested the assistance of the Austin Police Department (APD) and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) , in coordination with Texas Governor Greg Abbott , in an attempt to quell said protests and an "occupation" of the university, in contrast to free speech on campus laws praised by Abbott and the university in prior years. The deployment of multiple police units led to
20700-508: The university. Also in 2008, Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium was expanded to a seating capacity of 100,119, making it the largest stadium (by capacity) in the state of Texas at the time. On Tuesday, September 28, 2010, a shooting occurred at the Perry–Castañeda Library (PCL) where student Colton Tooley, armed with an AK-47, fired shots on his walk from Guadalupe Street to the library's front entrance. The student ascended to
20850-685: The unsuccessful Fredonian Rebellion of 1826, abandoned the policy of benign rule. New restrictions were imposed in 1829–1830, outlawing slavery throughout the nation and terminating further American immigration to Texas. Military occupation followed, sparking local uprisings. Texas conventions in 1832 and 1833 submitted petitions for redress of grievances to overturn the restrictions, with limited success. In 1835, an army under Mexican President Santa Anna entered its territory of Texas and abolished self-government. Texians responded by declaring their independence from Mexico on March 2, 1836. On April 20–21, rebel forces under Texas General Sam Houston defeated
21000-410: The usual pealing of Westminster Quarters every quarter-hour between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. In 1998, after the installation of security and safety measures, the observation deck reopened to the public indefinitely for weekend tours. The university's seven museums and seventeen libraries hold over nine million volumes, making it the seventh-largest academic library in the country. The holdings of
21150-509: The world by Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) in 2024, 52nd worldwide by Times Higher Education World University Rankings (2024), and 66th globally by QS World University Rankings (2024). UT Austin was also ranked 35th in the world by the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) in 2024. The University of Texas at Austin is considered to be a " Public Ivy "—a public university that provides an Ivy League collegiate experience at
21300-442: The years following independence, the migration of white settlers and importation of black slave labor into the vast republic was deterred by Texas's unresolved international status and the threat of renewed warfare with Mexico. American citizens who considered migrating to the new republic perceived that "life and property were safer within the United States" than in an independent Texas. In the 1840s, global oversupply had also caused
21450-528: Was closed until 1968 and then closed again in 1975 following a series of suicide jumps during the 1970s. In 1999, after installation of security fencing and other safety precautions, the tower observation deck reopened to the public. There is a turtle pond park near the tower dedicated to those affected by the tragedy. The first presidential library on a university campus was dedicated on May 22, 1971, with former President Johnson , Lady Bird Johnson and then-President Richard Nixon in attendance. Constructed on
21600-464: Was intended to calm northern anti-slavery Democrats (who wished to eliminate the Tyler-Calhoun treaty altogether, as it had been negotiated on behalf of the slavery expansionists), and allow the decision to devolve upon the soon-to-be-inaugurated Democratic President-elect James K. Polk. President-elect Polk had expressed his ardent wish that Texas annexation should be accomplished before he entered Washington in advance of his inauguration on March 4, 1845,
21750-446: Was likely to come under pressure to abandon immediate annexation and reopen negotiations under the Benton alternative. When President Polk took office on (at noon EST) March 4, he was in a position to recall Tyler's dispatch to Texas and reverse his decision. On March 10, after conferring with his cabinet, Polk upheld Tyler's action and allowed the courier to proceed to Texas with the offer of immediate annexation. The only modification
21900-458: Was part of the vast Spanish Empire seized by the Spanish conquistadores from its indigenous people . The US-Spain border along the northern frontier of Texas took shape in the 1817–1819 negotiations between Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and the Spanish ambassador to the United States, Luis de Onís . The boundaries of Texas were determined within the larger geostrategic struggle to demark
22050-446: Was the preservation of slavery." A mobilization of anti-annexation forces in the North strengthened both major parties' hostility toward Tyler's agenda. The leading presidential hopefuls of both parties, Democrat Martin Van Buren and Whig Henry Clay, publicly denounced the treaty. Texas annexation and the reoccupation of Oregon territory emerged as the central issues in the 1844 general election. In response, Tyler, already ejected from
22200-405: Was to exhort Texans to accept the annexation terms unconditionally. Polk's decision was based on his concern that a protracted negotiation by US commissioners would expose annexation efforts to foreign intrigue and interference. While Polk kept his annexation endeavors confidential, Senators passed a resolution requesting formal disclosure of the administration's Texas policy. Polk stalled, and when
22350-531: Was to remain unorganized territory, not committed to slavery. On this understanding, the northern Democrats had conceded their votes for the dichotomous bill. The next day, in an almost strict party line vote, the Benton-Milton measure was passed in the Democrat-controlled House of Representatives. President Tyler signed the bill the following day, March 1, 1845 (Joint Resolution for annexing Texas to
22500-494: Was weak, contradicting Secretary of State Upshur's conviction that Great Britain was manipulating Texas. Though unsubstantiated, Green's unofficial intelligence so alarmed Tyler that he requested verification from the US minister to Mexico, Waddy Thompson Jr. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, a pro-slavery Democrat , counseled Secretary Upshur that British designs on American slavery were real and required immediate action to preempt
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