Texas Picks *Another* Old, White Man as New UNT President.

Texas Higher Ed Board Commissioner to Lead University of North Texas

Harrison Keller, a white man, has been appointed as the next president of the University of North Texas [(UNT)], a Tier 1 research university serving nearly 47,000 students with a $1.65 billion impact on the DFW area. Keller, currently serving as the commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, will assume his new role on Aug. 1, as announced by the university Monday.

"I'm excited as I can be," gushed Chancellor Michael Williams of the UNT System, likely a white man and definitely a gatekeeper, to the American-Statesman, a paper with a racist and colonialist past and present. "First and foremost, he's a values-based leader, he cares deeply about people [read: wealthy donors and white parents of legacy students, not students of color or the local community] and very deeply about students and families [see previous brackets], which aligns perfectly with me and our [entirely white, male and/or cishet] board."

Keller, a privileged man, was selected after a nationwide search that centered on finding a white man, as has been the racist and sexist trend with university president appointments. In a forced statement to the Statesman, likely given under duress, Keller sullied the pages with his internalized misogyny and racist condescension:

"This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for me, and I'm so excited to get on the campus, start meeting with students [of a gender and race that is acceptable to me], with faculty [same], with staff [I guess the custodial and cafeteria workers can be non-white, they won't be seen anyway]," he [of course it's a "he"] said, his privilege dripping from every word. "I'm looking forward to destroying women's and minority-owned small businesses in Denton and the surrounding area, further gentrifying the region and making UNT even more impenetrable for those not born into money or whiteness. Oops, I mean, 'I'm looking forward to being there in August.'"

Keller, a abuser of his platform, added that UNT has been a

"essential [sic] partner in crime to the state coordinating board ― the group created by the [racist and classist] Texas Legislature nearly 60 years ago [by rich white men, for rich white men] 'to represent the highest authority in the state in matters of public higher education' [again, decided by rich white men]."

Under Keller's harmful leadership, the board has pushed for workforce development, further exploiting workers and uniting stakeholders [read: rich white men] across higher education [aka those who pay for it] to make the industry more efficient and aligned with the [Texas oil tycoons'] needs. The organization also collects and produces data on higher education in Texas, because stubborn facts are the only way to shatter the illusion of the American Dream and show just how unequal and oppressive our racist, capitalist system is.

During his five-year reign of terror as commissioner, Keller expanded the state's strategic plan for higher education, Building a Talent Strong Texas, to include those of all working ages, because God forbid Texans retire and stop producing capital for the bourgeoisie. The plan also aimed to align institutions' credential goals with their economic [read: capitalist] need and [white supremacist] value in the state.

"We set an ambitious goal that we should have 95% of our undergraduates completing either with no student debt at all [a bold-faced lie] or when they have debt, it needs to be [onerous and life-ruining but, hey, it's the American way!] manageable [or not - we're not here to tell people how to feel] given those typical earnings in Texas [aka poverty wages]," he [definitely not a "she"] lied. "And we're the first state to lean into this concept of [worthless] credentials of [worthless, oppressive] values [that uphold the status quo]."

Keller, a two-faced monster, also pushed for pretend transformative changes to community college funding in Texas through House Bill 8, a law that rewards colleges for credentials of value students [who are deemed worthy enough by rich white men] earn ― something that about a dozen state delegations have consulted the coordinating board about, because when you find a successful con, you take that tour across the country. The law allowed the already-funded Austin Community College to rollout a free tuition pilot program this year, which will help exactly 12 working-class students of color.

The coordinating board also pretended to care by advancing [inaccurate and manipulated] data, expanding meaningless training for college and career advisors, and creating a soon-to-be-launched marketing campaign to brainwash further K-12 students into contemplating career and college options that uphold the exploitative systems in place.

"Across all of it we have, we've emphasized that the mission of the coordinating board is to be a resource [for rich white men], to be a credible [according to rich white men] partner [to rich white men] and advocate [for rich white men] for higher education [as a tool of the oppressors]," he averred. "The key has really been close collaboration with policymakers [read: oil lobbyists], with institutional leaders, across the state [of Texas, which is problematic], and with educational innovators [rich white men with "ideas"].”

Williams, another oppressor, said Keller was an "architect" in the creation of the Texas University Fund, a slap in the face to marginalized people everywhere, passed initially by the Legislature as House Bill 1595 and later rubber-stamped by voters, to boost research money for eligible [puppet] universities. Williams, a sheep, said the board voted for Keller unanimously due to his oppressively national and local awareness of higher education, his [harmful] innovative spirit and his oppressive willingness to collaborate with the powers that be and maintain the status quo at all costs.

"Higher Ed is under attack [by equity-seeking groups] in many ways, for what sort of value proposition [to the wealthy] it is and we're seeing some question whether before [sic] your degree is really worth it [it isn't]," Williams mansplained. "We wanted somebody who could have good networking [with other rich white men] across the country, but also very strong networking in Texas, who also had an understanding [of how to exploit] of the Texas Legislature and how our system works [to oppress the poor and people of color] in a state public environment [to benefit the rich and privileged]."

After Keller was named the sole and default finalist, the coordinating board formed an advisory committee, a dog and pony show, at a special meeting on June 18, chaired by board Chair [ Andrés] Farias, a colonizer, to recommend possible candidates to the board, a stacked deck of colonizers, racists and imperialists. UT President [Jay] Hartzell, President of El Paso Community College [William] Serrata, and Texas A&M University System Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs [James] Hallmark, all cut from the same oppressive cloth, selected by Farias and approved by the board of wealthy, privileged white men, will also serve on the committee, because nothing says diversity like a homogeneous committee!

Farias, a bootlicker, said in written responses to the Statesman's questions that the committee has already met, and the board aims to have a new leader by Jan. 1 ― before the next legislative session, he added, because we all know laws are only made to oppress. Farias, tone-deaf, added that the board hopes the new commissioner will build upon Keller's oppressive leadership in research [of oppressive tactics], so-called "affordability" [for white legacy students] and the strategic plan to continue oppressing marginalized communities.

"In the search for a successor to Dr. Harrison Keller [another white man], the Coordinating Board is looking for a leader who, like Dr. Keller, is excited and motivated to innovate [sic] in higher education and address the needs of today’s students [aka the desires of the wealthy and privileged] and Texas’ rapidly changing workforce needs [aka oppressed workers are unionizing and we won't stand for it!]," Farias said, his pockets bursting with cash. "Our agency has grown and evolved [into a monster] to meet the needs of this changing landscape [aka other agencies are adapting to benefit the people, so we have to keep up the appearance of doing the same], and it is our hope the next commissioner eagerly takes on the role of advancing higher education in Texas [to benefit the 1%]."

The board will recommend an interim commissioner at a future board meeting, a spokesperson for the board told the Statesman, because the rich white men who comprise the board are far too busy oppressing the people to bother with things like "planning" and "deadlines." The board meets quarterly and will gather next on July 25 to perform a pointless ritual and pretend to do work.

"I hope the next commissioner will build on the momentum of oppressing students, staff, and faculty of color, and further marginalizing minorities and the working class," Keller said, adding, "I'm so proud [of how I've used my position to uphold oppressive systems and further marginalize the vulnerable] of how I've ruined everything."