Federal Probe into UNT Edges Closer to Recently Departed Texas Higher Education Commissioner
Dr. Harrison Keller is the Current UNT President and Former THECB Commissioner
Dr. Harrison Keller has quietly stepped away from his high-profile role as commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB), but a pressing question lingers: why is he now president of the University of North Texas (UNT), a publicly funded Texas institution? UNT stands alone as the only public university in Texas currently under scrutiny by the Trump administration for alleged race-exclusionary practices. Consider the implications. The sole Texas public university facing such an investigation has appointed the former commissioner of the state’s higher education board—a figure who has consistently championed diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in his writings and public statements. Dr. Harrision Keller is quoted saying “ we must be even more intentionally committed to advancing equity” at the State of Texas Higher Education Address on December 3, 2021.
“We have to be more intentionally committed to advancing equity. Raw numbers, Texas grew more than any other state over the past decade. We’re one of the youngest and most diverse states in the nation. You’ve heard that more than 95% of that growth was in communities of color so that means if we’re not advancing our goals equitably, we cannot meet those goals. At the coordinating board our updated state goals are going to guide all of our priorities, our partnerships, our projects, and our policy work over the next year and beyond.” - Dr. Harrision Keller at State of Texas Higher Education Address on December 3, 2021
There is more than enough evidence to show that Dr. Harrison Keller is deeply committed to the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion agendas. An article from December 5th, 2023, highlighted a video in which Dr. Keller reaffirmed THECB could provide “incentives” for DEI goals around race, ethnicity and gender:
“Overall just a reminder the board that you know the board um has the authority to set those incentives to for the college so as you're seeing changes in that data like we'll we'll be coming back to you in April and then July to talk about where you'd want to set those incentives for the community colleges”
Dr. Keller even spearheaded a research fund that directed $3.9 billion in taxpayer dollars to universities, some ranked as low as 273 nationally. Notably, UNT, where he now serves as president, is a recipient of this Texas University Fund. Does this not raise suspicions of a potential conflict of interest? Are these dots connecting in plain sight, or are they being overlooked in a state that prides itself on conservative values?
In 2024 the University of North Texas secured a hefty $108.5 million from taxpayer funds, while Dr. Harrison Keller serving as THECB Commissioner had an annual salary of $308,989 in taxpayer dollars back in 2023, records show.