The Right Idea

Brian and Derek have the pleasure of sitting down with Jacob Howland, the Provost and Dean of Intellectual Foundations at University of Austin, to discuss the need for an entirely new type of university in response to young Americans turning away from higher education… and for good reasons.

3:55 Jacob Howland’s victory lap for UATX
6:40 The Left’s argument against higher learning like University of Austin
8:00 What sets UATX’s curriculum apart from most other universities?
13:40 What kind of faculty and students is UATX looking for, and how do they find them?
19:35 The problem with faculty and administrators at most American universities
25:14 UATX is the only university in the U.S. with a Constitution
32:50 How can UATX escape wokeness but maintain funding?
35:55 UATX location - navigating East 6th & West 6th
38:28 How will UATX face Austin’s predictable onslaught of protests?
39:55 How is the Left likely to respond to conservative universities?
42:15 Will other places of higher learning be positively influenced by UATX?
43:45 How does UATX respond to the public’s primary concerns: Cost, Quality of Education and Ideology of the University?

Creators & Guests

Host
Brian Phillips
Brian Phillips is the Chief Communications Officer at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. For over a decade, Brian has helped policymakers and political candidates develop effective messages and communication strategies. Phillips is a veteran of presidential, congressional, and gubernatorial campaigns, and has extensive experience working in the United States Congress and public policy think tanks.
Host
Derek M. Cohen
Derek M. Cohen, Ph.D, is the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Vice President of Policy and Right on Crime Senior Fellow. Previously the director of Right on Crime, the Foundation’s criminal justice reform initiative, Cohen was instrumental in the passage of the First Step Act, federal legislation that borrowed from successful changes to prisons and sentencing that he had helped pass in conservative states. In addition to leading the Foundation’s work on criminal justice, he is also the lead researcher of firearms policy.

What is The Right Idea?

The Right Idea: The Texas Public Policy Foundation's weekly look at the people, policy, and politics that drive Texas.