Jim Davis, the interim president of the University of Texas, has drawn criticism for violating university norms in choosing the next provost of the university. As the Houston Chronicle reported last week , Davis overrode “university rules mandating faculty, student and staff consultation in key appointments” when he named a sole finalist, William Inboden of the University of Florida.

Davis explained in a May 28 email to me and other UT faculty that he did so because “The Texas Legislature is on the verge of passing Senate Bill 37 ,” which makes the provost appointment subject to final approval from the governor-appointed Board of Regents. In other words, since Gov. Greg Abbott soon will have an indirect veto power over the choice of provost, Davis ostensibly picked a candidate accept

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