Contact: Michael L. Warden or Anthony P. de Bruyn, (512) 499-4363

Date: July 27, 2006

UT System News Release

UT System Announces Members of Brackenridge Tract
Task Force

AUSTIN - The University of Texas System announced today (July 27) the appointment of several individuals to serve on a special task force to evaluate land in Austin known as the “Brackenridge Tract.”

The task force - announced earlier this month by UT System Board of Regents Chairman James R. Huffines - is chaired by Larry E. Temple of Austin, an attorney and graduate of UT Austin and the UT School of Law. Temple is a former chairman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, a trustee of the UT Law School Foundation, a distinguished alumnus of UT Austin, and a recipient of the Regent’s Santa Rita award for his distinguished service to higher education.

The appointments made today include:

“I am tremendously pleased that these distinguished citizens have agreed to serve as members of this important task force,” said Regents’ Chairman James R. Huffines. “Each of them brings to their work valuable experience, a strong sense of Texas and UT history, and a devotion of the best stewardship of the people's assets. We know we can count on them to make recommendations that serve the community and do honor to George Brackenridge's generosity.”

Several key UT System staff members will support the task force and its work with an expectation to present findings and recommendations to UT System regents by June 2007.

Almost 500 acres of land along the Colorado River were donated in 1910 by George W. Brackenridge of San Antonio, a former UT regent, for the benefit of The University of Texas at Austin. Today the tract is approximately 350 acres of undeveloped and developed land that includes a municipal golf course, UT Austin housing for students, a biological field laboratory for the campus, and various commercial buildings and enterprises on property leased from the university.

The UT System is one of the nation's largest higher education systems with 15 campuses, including nine academic and six health institutions, and an annual operating budget of $9.6 billion (FY 2006). Student enrollment exceeds 185,000 in the 2005 academic year. The UT System confers one-third of the state's undergraduate degrees and educates three-fourths of Texas health care professionals.

UT System News Release: UT Regents Create Task Force to Plan for Future Uses of Brackenridge Tract

Task Force roster with affiliations (PDF)

Brackenridge Tract Map (PDF)