Texas, the state, is pretty conservative; Austin is San Francisco/Berkely in theSouthwest.
I started my Masters degree at UT, Austin and the faculty was riddled with Harvard, Yale, Univ. Mich., Univ. Berkely types. The charm of TX U. for these blue progressives is doubtless the money, as TX 's land grant was the Permian Basin and it is a rich school. Because of the progressive faculty, graduates from No, NE, and West Coast univs. were given preference.
vaudine
It’s been true for a long while. I went to graduate school at UT in the early ‘60s , where I stayed at Simkins Hall, now “reflagged” because Simkins was somehow associated with the racism of the early 20th Century. Never mind that Simkins did a lot of good stuff. IAC, was surprised how liberal the history and government school faculties were, and of course the students. Of course, in those days, “liberal” still meant liberal-minded. The professors were open to discussion.