Quorum Report Daily Buzz Quorum Report Daily Buzz Login into the Quorum Report Subscribe toQuorum Report
Quorum Report Daily Buzz

July 16, 2014      12:47 PM

Cigarroa focuses on trust issues as the reason he demanded Powers step aside

Transparency Committee doesn’t get much in the way of specifics for Cigarroa's demand that Powers resign

The Texas House committee now drafting articles of impeachment against UT System Regent Wallace Hall spent much of Wednesday morning grilling system officials about what exactly changed leading up to Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa’s recent demand that UT Austin President Bill Powers resign. Powers, as you may know, is now set to step down after the regular session of The Legislature next year.

Rep. Carol Alvarado, the Houston Democrat who co-chairs the Select Committee on Transparency in State Agency Operations, said that last week was “momentous” for the UT System. Her co-chair, Rep. Dan Flynn, R-Van, said “Sadly there are many folks that just want us to rubber stamp an issue." When this is all said and done, Flynn said he hopes the vast majority of observers will feel the committee did a "fair and thorough” job of looking into Hall’s actions and the impacts on UT Austin as well as the system at large.

Chancellor Cigarroa was asked point-blank by Rep. Alvarado about what ultimately led him to issue an ultimatum to Powers over the July 4 weekend to step aside.

Cigarroa answered that understanding the situation would require knowing about the history of his interactions with Powers. Cigarroa said he had long ago laid out certain “tenets” that were important. Among those were good citizenship, rebuilding collaborations, enhancing trust, and cooperation. One of the reasons a deal was reached to allow Powers to stay through next year, Cigarroa said, was so that he could serve out his tenure as the chairman of the Association of American Universities, a prestigious national group. Everyone in the system is very proud of that accomplish by Powers, Cigarroa said.

By Scott Braddock