A new university in Austin, Texas, dedicated to free inquiry and the “fearless pursuit of truth” is opening applications to its very first freshman class.
The University of Austin (UATX) announced Wednesday in a press release that Texas state officials have awarded the school full university status, meaning it can start accepting students for next fall.
To celebrate the university’s first class, each of the 100 freshmen who matriculate next year will receive full, four-year scholarships, the school said.
“It is only fitting then that we invest in the next generation of builders, innovators, and creators, who deserve an education steeped in academic freedom and oriented towards the pursuit of wisdom,” UATX President Pano Kanelos said.
The university generated excitement — and some broadsides — in 2021 when its launch was announced by the school’s founders, including journalist Bari Weiss, historian Niall Ferguson, Palantir Technologies co-founder Joe Lonsdale, and founding president Pano Kanelos, formerly the president of St. John’s College.
Nearly two years later, the university says it has raised nearly $200 million so far from thousands of donors.
More than 500 students have already participated in its programs, and more than 6,000 professors across the country have sought teaching opportunities, the school said.
In December, the school will move to its new campus in downtown Austin.
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“A university with an uncompromised commitment to the principles of free inquiry and academic freedom has struck a chord with educators, parents, students, and donors,” the University of Austin said in its release Wednesday.
The curriculum begins with a two-year liberal arts program, followed by a two-year fellowship that is research and practice-driven. Each student will also complete a Polaris Project, an “ambitious four-year project to build, create, or discover something that meets a pressing human need or addresses a social, political, or economic challenge.”
Meanwhile, the University of Austin boasts support from a network of hundreds of businesses as well as tech, political, creative, and academic leaders who the school says are eager to mentor and hire graduates.
The University of Austin says it is “committed to forging a new generation of American founders.”
“We are seeking students characterized by grace, grit, and gratitude, with the calling to build, create, and innovate. We believe that attentiveness to the past is essential to establishing a brighter future. We hold that universities in a democratic polity have a special obligation to cultivate dialogue and foster a commitment to the common good. We affirm that the highest purpose of higher education is the discovery, transmission, and preservation of knowledge, and to fulfill these ends, universities must remain committed to open inquiry, intellectual pluralism, freedom of conscience, and civil discourse,” the school said.
For years, conservatives have criticized higher education institutions for leaning left. In recent years, parents across the country have expressed frustration with “woke” themes in K-12 public schools as well.
In Florida, another higher education project is looking to combat the influence of left-leaning universities as well. At New College in Sarasota, Governor Ron DeSantis appointed seven conservatives to the board earlier this year in an attempt to rid the school of Critical Race Theory and “woke” ideology