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The Lyndon B. Johnson College of Public Affairs introduced the Willie Nelson Endowment for UT school and college students to analysis and develop strategies to battle local weather change’s results in rural communities. 

JR DeShazo, dean of the LBJ College of Public Affairs, created the endowment to additional honor Nelson after the LBJ Basis gave Nelson the Liberty and Justice for All Award at their gala on Might 13.

“I requested myself, ‘What are the coverage areas that Willie has devoted his life to and is most related to uplifting?’ and that introduced me to a concentrate on sustainable agriculture, eliminating meals insecurity,” DeShazo mentioned. “After which, supporting rural communities impacted by pure disasters and by their want for higher water and power, companies and help.”

In response to the LBJ College web site, the endowment will fund analysis tasks centered round “sustainable agriculture, eliminating starvation, resilient power, sustainable water and pure catastrophe restoration to profit rural and farm communities.”

“I feel there’s traditionally been this city and rural divide between the College of Texas and Austin and the remainder of rural Texas,” DeShazo mentioned. “This endowment permits us to bridge that divide and actually permits the College of Texas college students and college to make direct contributions that make the lives of rural residents higher.” 

DeShazo mentioned the LBJ Basis instructed him to plan for an endowment between $500,000 and $750,000. 

“These sorts of funds assist help our capability to actually practice college students to consider these issues that Willie Nelson has been so involved about and has contributed a lot to throughout his personal musical profession,” mentioned Sheila Olmstead, a professor on the LBJ College who makes a speciality of environmental economics.  

DeShazo mentioned the LBJ Basis will fund a brand new undertaking annually. This yr’s undertaking will concentrate on sustainable backup power for water programs in rural Texas. 

“As we proceed to emit greenhouse gasses which can be altering the worldwide local weather, the outcomes of which can be form of profoundly broad and deep,” Olmstead mentioned. “The extra we are able to do to assist our college students perceive that this downside touches everybody, in each a part of the financial system and the political and social programs within the nation, the higher off we’ll be.”

As a part of an funding to broaden scholar psychological well being providers, the UT System introduced a brand new program final week to supply college students throughout all 14 UT establishments with digital and free psychological well being help. This system launches this fall. 

The initiative is a partnership with TimelyCare, a digital psychological well being and well-being supplier engineered to enhance scholar psychological well being at greater training establishments. The partnership will give college students entry to on-demand psychological well being and emotional help, scheduled psychological well being counseling periods, psychiatry providers, well being teaching, care navigation, peer group help and digital self-care content material at no further price. 

“One of many optimistic issues that’s occurred over the previous (a number of) years is acceptance of psychological well being assets, and what we’re seeing as an important development is college students serving to their friends establish the necessity and pointing them to assets,” mentioned Luke Hejl, CEO and co-founder of TimelyCare. “So our goal at TimelyCare is to actually associate with the establishment … it’s essential that we do every thing that we are able to to combine with them, to work with them in the best way that we’re serving to college students.” 

Chris Brownson, the affiliate vice chairman for well being and well-being at College Well being Providers and the Counseling and Psychological Well being Heart, mentioned TimelyCare’s providers wouldn’t exchange what UT gives however will enhance psychological well being service accessibility for individuals who want it. Brownson mentioned the partnership would additionally give college students who obtain care a extra numerous vary of individuals to talk with to higher handle their wants, one thing TimelyCare particularly consists of of their method.

“(College students) have the flexibility to learn the profiles of the suppliers and establish somebody who might seem like them or who might have scientific expertise in an space that’s essential to them,” Hejl mentioned. “Whether or not that be somebody who’s a part of or has quite a lot of expertise working with the LGBTQ+ group or somebody that’s skilled and assured in working with faith-based wants, the entire spectrum of these issues are critically essential to ensure that we have now the proper assets accessible for college kids.”

Akshara Kolli, president of the UT chapter of Energetic Minds, a psychological well being group, mentioned the TimelyCare partnership would significantly profit college students with monetary difficulties or histories of familial points.

“There are quite a lot of stressors inside (a university scholar’s) life; faculty for most individuals is the primary time that they’re dwelling alone, first time that they’re supporting themselves by working their very own job,” Kolli mentioned. “So it’s actually essential that we, as college students, handle these points earlier than (we) depart faculty and these points flip into larger issues.”

Brownson mentioned psychological well being is a major predictor of scholar success and that it’s important to assist college students work by psychological well being points to fulfill educational targets. 

“However extra than simply being academically profitable … we wish college students right here to be wholesome and to be thriving and to have the ability to be the most effective variations of themselves,” Brownson mentioned. “Tuning into these private points and challenges and caring for ourselves in that approach can be simply an essential life ability to construct on.”

Hejl mentioned this system can be mushy launched this summer time at choose UT System establishments earlier than a full launch this fall. Brownson mentioned he anticipates this system will come to UT in July.

The College introduced Eve Stephens as the brand new chief of the UT Police Division and the Assistant Vice President of Campus Safety. Stephens will formally start her function on July 5. 

Stephens’ appointment comes after former UTPD Chief David Carter handed away on April 22, 2022, at 64, following an extended battle with most cancers. 

Stephens has served the Austin neighborhood in legislation enforcement for nearly 24 years. In 2021, Stephens was promoted to Commander of the Austin Police Division. She created APD’s first Ladies’s Mentorship Program for feminine cadets and helped type a state-level feminine officer mentorship program for the Texas Police Chiefs Affiliation.

In an e-mail from the College, a consultant stated, “I’m assured that Chief Stephens will lead our campus safety to larger power within the coming years with integrity and with a spirit that nothing is inconceivable.”

As Texas and Oklahoma put together to maneuver to the Southeastern Convention in 2024, the SEC launched soccer opponents for the upcoming season. Many present SEC opponents are former Huge 12 rivals, making Texas’ transfer to the brand new convention thrilling for followers and foes alike. 

With the Texas and Oklahoma transfer, the SEC dissolved its present East and West division mannequin, as a substitute shifting to an eight-opponent schedule. All 16 groups’ opponents had been revealed at 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening. 

In its first 12 months of SEC play, Texas will face Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State at dwelling within the Darrell Ok Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, and journey to Arkansas, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M. Texas may even see Oklahoma on the Cotton Bowl. Whereas Texas will technically be the away crew in Dallas in 2024, the ambiance will certainly make either side really feel at dwelling.

The Longhorns will journey to Nashville to tackle the Vanderbilt Commodores, renewing a matchup that hasn’t occurred since 1928, when Texas fell 13-12 at dwelling to Vanderbilt. Nonetheless, Vanderbilt has not seen a lot success in current seasons, going 5-7 in 2022, its finest file since 2018. 

Renewing an previous rivalry with plenty of historical past, Texas will journey to Fayetteville to tackle the Arkansas Razorbacks for the primary time since 2021, when Arkansas received the “Welcome to the SEC” recreation 40-21. 

In essentially the most anticipated rivalry renewal, Texas will return to Kyle Area to tackle the Texas A&M Aggies for the primary time since Justin Tucker’s last-second walk-off subject aim in 2011. Since then, the chatter across the two groups’ subsequent matchup has been countless, and followers on either side now have a solution. 

“I’m most excited in regards to the (Texas A&M) rivalry (being renewed),” stated electrical and laptop engineering junior Robert Taylor. “It’s native, I’ve a whole lot of associates that go there and it’s at all times enjoyable to compete with them.” 

In contrast to with Texas A&M and Arkansas, the Longhorns don’t have a protracted historical past of enjoying with groups like Florida, Georgia, Kentucky and Mississippi State, with essentially the most memorable win over Georgia coming within the 2019 Sugar Bowl. 

“I’m excited to see new opponents,” Taylor stated. “Attending to play good groups (like SEC groups) ought to make our crew higher. Taking part in higher groups makes you higher your self.” 

Texas’ SEC transfer was met with excessive expectations because the announcement in 2021, and this sturdy first-year schedule will permit the crew to show it may well compete with the very best of the very best.