The University of Texas (UT) System will create a permanent home for the School of Civic Leadership at UT Austin, using $100 million allocated by the Board of Regents. The investment will enable the university to renovate the century-old Biological Laboratories (BIO) building. The structure will be converted and expanded to accommodate the school.
The School of Civic Leadership will help prepare the next generation for leadership roles, educating them on the foundational principles of the nation. It was created in 2023 and designed to collocate educators across multiple disciplines and backgrounds to encourage unique perspectives, concepts and modes of thinking.
Currently, the school is housed in Littlefield House. With this investment, UT Austin anticipates moving the school into the newly renovated BIO facility by 2028. The university will transfer institutions currently housed in the BIO building—including the College of Natural Sciences and the Jackson School of Geosciences—to new on-campus modernized lab facilities.
As the UT System invests in civic leadership education and training, the school expects to welcome its first 100 freshmen to its new Civics Honors major this fall. The school is making progress on hiring 20 tenured or tenure-track faculty members by fall 2026.
These educators will help hone and develop critical civil leadership skills, including civic knowledge, strong communication and analytical skills, intellectual breadth and the ability to ascertain a variety of perspectives. Faculty affiliated with the school come from the university’s business, economics, government, law, philosophy and public affairs programs.
The UT System said these efforts are meant to promote and preserve constitutional democracy, marking critical steps toward making the institution a national leader in civic education.
Photo Courtesy Daderot via Wikimedia Commons
