98: The University of Austin, with Kristin Rawls and Jeff Eaton

So UATX happened.

Dear God I wish stuff would stop happening.

Thankfully we got Kristin Rawls and Jeff Eaton from Christian Rightcast to come back to help us talk about it. 

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Content Warnings.

Podcast Notes:

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Show Notes:

Pano Kanelos at Bari Weiss's Substack We Can't Wait For Universities to Fix Themselves. So We're Starting a New One

• The numbers tell the story as well as any anecdote you've read in the headlines or heard within your own circles. Nearly a quarter of American academics in the social sciences or humanities endorse ousting a colleague for having a wrong opinion about hot-button issues such as immigration or gender differences. Over a third of conservative academics and PhD students say they had been threatened with disciplinary action for their views. Four out of five American PhD students are willing to discriminate against right-leaning scholars, according to a report by the Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology.
• The picture among undergraduates is even bleaker. In Heterodox Academy's 2020 Campus Expression Survey, 62% of sampled college students agreed that the climate on their campus prevented students from saying things they believe. Nearly 70% of students favor reporting professors if the professor says something students find offensive, according to a Challey Institute for Global Innovation survey. The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education reports at least 491 disinvitation campaigns since 2000. Roughly half were successful.

University of Austin Wikipedia

The University of Austin website

Under "Our principles"

• Universities devoted to the unfettered pursuit of truth are the cornerstone of a free and flourishing democratic society.
• For universities to serve their purpose, they must be fully committed to freedom of inquiry, freedom of conscience, and civil discourse.
• In order to maintain these principles, UATX will be fiercely independent—financially, intellectually, and politically.

Under "What Makes UATX Different"

• A COMMITMENT TO FREEDOM OF INQUIRY

We're reclaiming a place in higher education for freedom of inquiry and civil discourse. Our students and faculty will confront the most vexing questions of human life and civil society. We will create a community of conversation grounded in intellectual humility that respects the dignity of each individual and cultivates a passion for truth.

• A NEW FINANCIAL MODEL

We're completely rethinking how a university operates by developing a novel financial model. We will lower tuition by avoiding costly administrative excess and overreach. We will focus our resources intensively on academics, rather than amenities. We will align institutional incentives with student outcomes.

• AN INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM

Our curriculum is being designed in partnership not only with the world's great thinkers but also with its great doers—visionaries who have founded bold ventures, artists and writers of the highest order, pioneers in tech, and the leading lights in engineering and the natural sciences. Students will apply their foundational skills to practical problems in fields such as entrepreneurship, public policy, education, and engineering.

Under "Programs"

• Beginning Summer 2022
• The Forbidden Courses
• Our Forbidden Courses summer program invites top students from other universities to join us for a spirited discussion about the most provocative questions that often lead to censorship or self-censorship in many universities. Students will become proficient and comfortable with productive disagreement. Instructors will range from top professors to accomplished business leaders, journalists, and artists.
• Beginning Fall 2022
• ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND LEADERSHIP MA PROGRAM
• The primary purpose of most conventional business programs is to credential large cohorts of passive learners with a lowest-common-denominator curriculum comprised of the most abstract principles of accounting, finance, management, and organizational leadership.
• In this 12-month program, UATX will recruit elite students from top schools, teach them the classical principles of leadership and market foundations, and then embed them into a network of successful technologists, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and public-policy reformers. Students will then actively apply their learning to the most urgent and seemingly intractable problems facing our society, both in the private and public sectors.

Under "Frequently Asked Questions"

• Do you have a physical location?
• Our headquarters are located in central Austin: 2112 Rio Grande Street, Austin, TX 78705

RashChapman, Attorneys at Law

Texas Tribune, The new University of Austin hopes to counter what its founders say is a culture of censorship at most colleges

• They also haven't officially received nonprofit status from the federal government. They are using Cicero Research, which is run by Austin-based tech investor and advisory board member Joe Lonsdale, as a temporary nonprofit sponsor.
• According to the 2020 tax filing for Cicero Research, its mission is to "create and distribute non-partisan documents recommending free-market based solutions to public policy issues," and "produce and distribute non-partisan educational materials about the importance of preserving Texan policies, values and history."

Lonsdale tweet about Pete Buttigieg's parternity leave

• Great for fathers to spend time w their kids and support moms, but any man in an important position who takes 6 months of leave for a newborn is a loser. In the old days men had babies and worked harder to provide for their future - that's the correct masculine response.

US tech investor Joe Lonsdale refuses to apologise for 'loser' paternity tweet

Why Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale is leaving Silicon Valley

• Lonsdale said that 10 to 15 of his firm's 45 employees are likely to join him in the Austin area. He's also moving his policy organization, Cicero Institute, to the city.
• Among 8VC's better-known investments to date are Palmer Luckey's start-up, Anduril, which is building a virtual border wall, and Dustin Moskovitz's software company, Asana, which went public in September. He's also putting a lot of money in health-care companies like insurance provider Oscar Health and men's health company Hims.