Forest Country News

Measures filed in the Texas Legislature that would add Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA) in Nacogdoches to the University of Texas (UT) System successfully made their way out of committee.

Per Tyler CBS affiliate KYTX, the House Committee on Higher Education voted unanimously earlier this month to approve House Bill (HB) 2639. 

Authored by State Rep. Travis Clardy (R-Nacogdoches), HB 2639 pertains “to the creation of a new university in Nacogdoches within the [UT] System,” as well as “abolishing [SFA],” according to LegiScan. 

KYTX reported that the bill will be next brought to a vote in the lower chamber of the Texas Legislature.

A companion bill, Senate Bill (SB) 1055, was approved by the Senate Committee on Higher Education at the same time, according to LegiScan. 

SFA President Dr. Steve Westbrook told the committee he likes the university’s outlook as a member of the UT System. 

“Our future is going to be very bright indeed,” Westbrook, who was joined by UT System Board of Regents Chair Kevin Eltife at the hearing, said, Tyler ABC affiliate KLTV reported. 

Eltife, a former member of the Texas Senate himself, described the work SFA put into the merger as “open and transparent,” KLTV reported. 

“We are honored and enthusiastic about taking the next steps with SFA in this process, with confidence that this union will make each of us stronger,” he said in the report.

Austin Journal reported in early December that the SFA Board of Regents voted 8-1 to join the UT System, which extended the invitation for affiliation.

According to the Nacogdoches-based university, the publication reported, the vote followed what it described as “a comprehensive process” that involved feedback and responses from the school community and members of the public. 

SFA, which was established in 1923, has an undergraduate enrollment of at least 10,000.