15 Comments
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Gale Pooley's avatar

"critics have impossibly high (double) standards"

Better trademark that one.

Scott's avatar

Sounds like education is a merit good for 70%+ of the students

John A. Johnson's avatar

Thank-you for the inside look at UATX, Bryan.

Zac Hill's avatar

As a lib, I continue to believe strongly in the UATX project and continue to believe its execution is underrated and its applicability as a model for a viable path forward for higher education is less salient than it ought to be because of <gestures> reasons. This sounds just straightforwardly like a delightful experience.

Maggie Kelly's avatar

Thanks for this, Bryan! I work in Admissions at UATX and am sorry that we never met. Please continue to spread the word. 😊

Rafe Champion's avatar

Great story, thanks Bryan!

Do you know if there are books by Jacques Barzun on the reading lists there?

https://rafechampion.substack.com/p/jacques-barzuns-monumental-contribution

Rishab Bomma's avatar

Did you attend any of the math classes?

Martin Mertens's avatar

Thanks for this write up. UATX seems like a great place.

These days I'd be more impressed by their intellectual openness if they invited you to debate for tighter borders rather than open borders.

Bryan Caplan's avatar

My opponent did debate for that side, of course.

Josh Wayne's avatar

>80 year old Hamlet

The mom was being played by Jeffrey Lebowski's coffee can?

Tyler's avatar

Thanks for providing actual, first-hand insight on UATX.

All new organizations hit some bumps in the road, but the bumps at UATX were reported as castastrophic. (Clearly, this reporting was a manifestation of bias and pre-conceived notions about anything remotely connected to Bari Weiss. As if UATX was the first college in history to have conflict between a major donor and the administration, or conflicting visions among board members/advisors).

I think you will always have highly engaged students because the pool of applicants will be so highly selective. The kid who is going to college just because that's what he's supposed to do after high school (per his parents and teachers) will not be applying to UATX.

Tom Grey's avatar

Great write up. Was especially happy to read about karaoke nights,, there’s something quite fun about singing with others. And for others, even with merely a normal voice.

cowboykiller's avatar

Curious to hear if you had any experience or interaction with St. Edwards University staff or students during your time in Austin? In Texas it seems like a school that reliably producers successful people, but is still firmly a regional school that nobody outside of the State really knows about. Curious if my alma mater just needs a somewhat edgy rebrand to get some level of national noteriety.

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Jul 1
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Not at Liberty's avatar

If you don’t understand maybe you should read what he wrote about it! It convinced me and I hate wokism

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Jul 3
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Not at Liberty's avatar

I actually wrote a paper about the friend-enemy distinction in the French Revolution a few months ago. I don’t think woke is the enemy. Why do you think they are and what would convince you otherwise?