The University fired 66 staff members in its mass firing on April 2, the president-elect of the Texas Conference of the American Association of University Professors confirmed at a joint press conference on Wednesday.

The mass firing came in response to State Sen. Brandon Creighton’s letters to each of the state’s public university systems. In the letters, Creighton asked the systems to illustrate their compliance with Senate Bill 17, which he called “the most robust DEI prohibition in the nation.” 

Texas AAUP co-hosted the press conference with the Texas NAACP and three state representatives.

“On April 2, the events caught us all off guard,” said Brian Evans, the president-elect and UT engineering professor, who said he spoke as a private individual and representative of Texas AAUP. “Starting in the morning around 9:30, … at least 66 staff received termination notices without warning (and) without due process.” 

Texas NAACP president Gary Bledsoe said the recent mass firing and SB 17 are “going to dumb down the University of Texas” by scaring away prospective faculty from other states.  

“Virtually overnight, UT-Austin has gone from a champion player in the higher education ecosystem to a minor league,” Bledsoe said. “Sadly, the damage is self-inflicted … UT-Austin has rolled up the welcome mat for underrepresented students and faculty across racial and gender identification lines.”

Bledsoe said the vague language of SB 17 results in differing responses to the bill across Texas universities. Recently, the University of Texas at Dallas followed UT-Austin’s footsteps by announcing the termination of 20 staff members in its Office of Campus Resources and Support on Tuesday.