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Matthew Watkins began serving as editor in chief of the Tribune in September 2024. Matthew is a Texas native, born in Houston and raised in Austin. He attended public schools and graduated from Texas A&M University. He’s spent nearly two decades in Texas journalism, and previously worked at The Eagle in Bryan-College Station and The Dallas Morning News. Matthew joined the Tribune in 2015 has held various roles, including higher education reporter, breaking news editor and politics editor. As a managing editor, Matthew has guided the Tribune’s award-winning journalism and other reporting of statewide significance, including coverage of elections and legislative sessions to major breaking news and ambitious storytelling about the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the Texas-Mexico border, the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, the impeachment of Texas attorney general and battles over public education. He lives in Austin with his wife, Susan, and their two children.
In a major — and surprising — win for affirmative action supporters, the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the University of Texas at Austin’s right to give a slight boost to black and Hispanic applicants. Full Story
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Texas A&M University sparked outrage when it decided in 2003 not to use affirmative action in its admissions process. But since then, the school's black and Hispanic population has grown faster than that of the University of Texas at Austin. Full Story
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Former Baylor University head football coach Art Briles is fighting back against his sudden dismissal, arguing that he was wrongfully terminated and is being used as a scapegoat for the sexual assault scandal that has shamed the school. Full Story
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Texas Tech University has selected its current provost, Lawrence Schovanec, to be the school's next president. Schovanec has been an administrator at Tech for three decades. Full Story
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The University of Houston has agreed to resolve a legal fight over its basketball arena, currently named after former Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz, by erecting a statue of and renaming a street after the deceased school booster. Full Story
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The state's colleges and universities have been largely been left out of the debate over transgender bathroom policies. Over the past decade, most have adopted policies friendlier to transgender students and staff. Full Story
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As part of what Chancellor Bill McRaven is calling an "organizational assessment," the University of Texas System has implemented a "soft" hiring freeze and is considering layoffs, according to a memo obtained by The Texas Tribune. Full Story
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An awkward TV interview posted this week by a Waco TV station shows former Baylor University president Ken Starr offering multiple answers to a question about his knowledge of a student's rape allegation. Full Story
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Supporters of Texas' new campus carry law say the shooting at UCLA exemplifies how banning guns on campus only deters law-abiding people. Opponents say it shows why guns shouldn't be allowed on campus. Full Story
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Days after he was stripped of his job as Baylor University president over a scandal over how the school handled accusations of sexual assault, Ken Starr said he will also resign as chancellor of the private Baptist school. Full Story
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