A " Higher Ed " listener who teaches English in Osaka, Japan wrote in requesting a discussion of what the listener characterizes as "the tension between servicing the local community near an institution and appealing to international elements (students, partnerships, etc.)." In this episode of the KUT podcast " Higher Ed ," KUT's Jennifer Stayton and Southwestern University President Dr. Ed Burger discuss how campuses view their role in the local community and how that is balanced with farther flung connections.

Whenever there's a lull on the Texas House floor, state Rep. Mary González immediately pulls out her textbooks to cram in some last-minute studying. Just like any other UT student, she has finals coming up, but unlike most other lawmakers, she is about to finish her Ph.D during the waning days of the legislative session. For the last several years, while rushing to get her bills passed, González has also been working to get her Ph.D in curriculum and instruction — cultural studies in education. She started the program more than seven years ago with the hope of becoming a professor. At the time, she wanted to teach and work toward improving equality in education among minorities. That was before she was first elected to the Texas House in 2012. “It has been the hardest thing I've ever done. I mean the most gratifying thing, and I think a lot of people of would have quit,” said González, a Democrat from Clint. “But, I kept working on it because being an academic is an important part of who I am not just being a state representative. I love being a state representative. But it's one part of me, and the other part of me as being an academic.” Education professor Betty Jeanne Taylor helped supervise González’s Ph.D program and said she is constantly inspired by González’s determination and ability to connect her two fields. “She's uniquely skilled in both of those arenas,” Taylor said. “To bridge those, it's tremendous. She has done that seamlessly and skillfully, and speaks to how she gets everything. She really does things at this level that you is almost beyond comprehension.” González graduated with a bachelor’s degree in history and Mexican-American studies in 2007. She chose to attend UT because she wanted to work at the Capitol and better the world, but after working with three members, she said she “hated politics.”   #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; width:100%;} /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Want more content like this in your inbox every morning? “I went to my adviser, and ‘I'm lost,’” González said. “So, she's like, ‘what in the world do you want to change, and how do you create that change.’ I said ‘Ok, I want work on social justice where I want to challenge racism and sexism and anti-Semitism and classism and able-ism and all of the -isms. I thought about a way to work on those issues and question discrimination, and the way to start is education.” She then attended  St. Edward’s University where she got a master’s in social justice, but despite her dislike for politics, González said she eventually realized it was the best way to work toward her goals. Even when she left politics, she still advocated for more funding for education in the state and was among those protesting state budget cuts in 2011. She won her first election to the Texas House in 2012 while still in her 20s. González said her time in higher education has informed much of her work as a state lawmaker. She protested the passage of tuition deregulation in 2003, an act many believe contributes to the rising costs of public higher education in the state, and filed a bill earlier this session to reinstate it. “It has completely shaped how I do this work,” González said. “There's not a break between Mary the academic and Mary the legislator. These things inform each other. They're tangled and woven together.”

Can the Longhorns lure the Oklahoma product away from a Big 12 foe? Tom Herman and company have once again swooped into Sooner territory, this time in pursuit of a prospect already pledged elsewhere, as Oklahoma City (Okla.) Bishop McGuinness running back Dominic Richardson announced an offer from the Texas Longhorns on Saturday. Blessed to have received an offer from University of Texas #Longhorn #Hookem ?? pic.twitter.com/hBKPhUeC9l— Dominic Richardson (@NicNic_00) May 18, 2019 After garnering an offer from the Horns, Richardson now has 12 respective programs calling for his services, but landing the three-star running back will be a tough task at this point in time for any school. Over a week ago, the TCU Horned Frogs landed six of their seven verbal commitments and Richardson just so happened to be one of those recruits, as his pledge came on the heels of his May 3 official visit to Fort Worth. Just weeks earlier, Arkansas was considered the team to beat, with Richardson naming the Razorbacks as his outright leader in mid-April. As far as Texas is concerned, Richardson has visited the Forty Acres in the past, so there could be mutual interest after this offer that may potentially lead to the OKPreps standout making another trip to Austin in the future. Texas has now offered 12 running backs in this current recruiting cycle, with their main focus still being the nation’s No. 1 prospect, Houston North Shore’s Zachary Evans. Richardson is ranked as the nation’s No. 606 player overall, as the No. 44 running back, and as the No. 7 prospect in Oklahoma, per the 247Sports Composite.

The National Weather Service has issued a tornado watch for Central Texas through 8 p.m. tonight, affected areas include Travis, Bastrop, Caldwell, Blanco, Hays and Burnet counties.