UT about to do something REALLY stupid that could torpedo their relationship with Governor....

"I will punish the world for its evil,
And the wicked for their iniquity;
I will halt the arrogance of the proud,
And will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible."
Isaiah 13:11

Buried in today's Trib story about the Texas Bullion depository, we find this nugget:

Abbott drew national attention in 2015 when he announced that the depository would allow Texas to “repatriate” $1 billion in gold bullion currently being stored in New York. He was referring to gold bullion assets held by the University of Texas Investment Management Company, which oversees the assets of both the University of Texas and Texas A&M systems.

The nonprofit currently has $861.4 million worth of gold bullion in storage at the HSBC Bank in New York City, according to Jenny LaCoste-Caputo, a spokeswoman for the UT system. But UTIMCO officials appear unlikely to move their gold holdings to the state depository. Officials there have previously said the Texas depository would have to be a member of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s COMEX platform, where gold futures contracts are traded. LaCoste-Caputo confirmed Tuesday that that condition still holds.

The new state depository will not be a member of COMEX, according to Matthew Ferris, chairman of Lone Star Tangible Assets. He pointed to geographical limitations as preventing the Texas Bullion Depository from joining.

“Ultimately, our goal is to create liquidity of COMEX levels in the state of Texas for those large institutions over time,” Ferris said.

LaCoste-Caputo also said that gold storage fees UTIMCO pays would have to be cheaper at the Texas depository than it currently pays in New York for the organization to make the switch.

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

Soo...they're going to openly defy the Governor over something this big?!?

Are they really that arrogant?!? [Note: Rhetorical question.]

Keep in mind: This is the Governor who has done nothing but protect them during his time in office.  This is the Governor who fast tracked getting Wallace Hall off of the Board of Regents.  And this is how they repay him?!?

And this is after they already attempted to defy him over the Houston land grab.

Bottom Line: If they move forward with this plan, the next round of regent nominations is going to be VERY interesting (*).

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* - We doubt WH would accept a re-nomination to the Board if it were offered, but nominees of a similar philosophical disposition are a realistic possibility.