SAN MARCOS – Beto O’Rourke, former presidential and Senate candidate as well as former U.S. Representative for the 16th Congressional District of Texas, will teach a class on Texas politics at Texas State University in spring 2021, pending finalization of his hire.
As an adjunct lecturer, O’Rourke will teach the course PS 4325 (Texas Politics), a synchronous online class that will feature remote lectures with up to 15% of instruction delivered in-person, COVID-19 permitting.
“Having Beto O’Rourke teaching Texas Politics will give Texas State students a unique opportunity to learn about some of the major institutions, issues, personalities, challenges and opportunities in our political system from the perspective of an experienced elected public servant,” said Gene Bourgeois, provost and vice president for academic affairs at Texas State.
O’Rourke brings first-hand experience to the classroom. He ran for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination before suspending his campaign in Nov. 2019.
Prior to that, he gained national attention in his 2018 senate race against incumbent Ted Cruz, narrowly losing despite setting a record for the most votes ever cast for a Democrat in Texas history. O’Rourke served as U.S. Representative for the 16th congressional district in Texas 2012-2018. Before being elected to Congress, O’Rourke served on the El Paso City Council from June 2005 to June 2011.
“I thought it would be a great idea to have a former congressman, a former senatorial candidate teaching, just like (former U.S. Ambassador) Bob Krueger, who taught hereafter he served in the senate,” said Ken Grasso, chair of the Department of Political Science.
O’Rourke attended Columbia University and graduated in 1995 with a degree in English literature. Upon graduation, O’Rourke co-founded Stanton Street Technology, an internet services, and software company, in El Paso.
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I feel like this should be illegal. Military officers are barred from accepting contracting positions for a period of time following their retirement. Mr. Robert O’Rourke is still a politician. He is still angling for office. And, now he is going to use a position at TXST to campaign.
There is an MSNBC video on Yahoo News RIGHT NOW where he is accusing Texas of voter suppression. "... Despite the voter suppression tactics of Greg Abbott, and the voter ID laws, and the racial gerrymandering, and the ballot box closures in Texas..." ... more people voted in Houston in one day than in all of Georgia. Spin matters. And, as a new employee of the state of Texas, he's railing against the Texas government. That's an ethics complaint. That is grounds for firing.
The PoliSci department already has a problem with its course delivery. The material is weak and the instructors make their personal opinions known. Why make it worse by bringing this guy in to talk bash the system, accuse Texas of racism, and Walmart shootings? You're only making it worse.
And what happened? I thought daddy was hooking him up with some plush, do-nothing, executive position at the family business.
Exactly right.
Don’t want students brainwashed by his values. ??
An English Lit. Degree. A dicey resume in politics. A Socialist agenda that allows lies and attacks against our Constitution and its citizens as acceptable. As both an alumni and a US citizen this is beyond insulting. What possible positive lesson would be charged to students for attending this propaganda course? Call Hillsdale college or similar and hire a poly sci scholar not a political hack.
Agree totally. Who made this decision.
Allowing the brainwashed to brainwash our students is
A real real bad policy with a real real big price tag attached
In dollars and human cost.
This man has failed at everything he has ever done and he will now fail Tx State
University students.
Give students a unique opportunity to learn, Gene Bourgeois?? What a joke. This is not unique, it is a farce. He is getting paid to campaign for himself and spread propaganda. Shame on you Texas State.
To: Ken Grasso, chair of the Department of Political Science.
How in heaven’s name did you think this would be a good idea? Did you decide to pull from the bottom of the barrel?
Or, are you left of the left and want our young people ingesting bull crap!
Mentally unstable persons should not have guns, and that's all Mr. O'Rourke meant speaking about gun control. In the event you must qualify your hate for Mr. O'Rourke on the basis of that statement please seek medical help, as now more than ever we do not need your unbridled emotions governing the outcome of safety on our campus here in this city which our President Trauth so selflessly endows with benefits normally unvailable to other municipalities. The NET IMPACT OF TEXAS STATE should never be underestimated, nor should our resolve for community safety be ignored under pretext of tolerance for those who refuse medical help in lieu of bitterly clutching weapons and mythical articles of faith for purposes of racial inequality and social injustice.
I'd say that some of your post have indicated mental instability. Just sayin'.
Sounds like many of these comments come from those who are 1) close minded, 2) over 50 yrs old, and 3) habitually questioning why diversity is a thing. Be open to new things and give them a chance otherwise how are we as a society ever going to improve.
as a privileged white male who identifies as a transexual black female i agree we will not improve unless teaching our young children to openly accept the advantages of diversity and inclusion of sexual identity at an early age and give them a chance to be free from those over 50 or else as you said we will not improve and remain totally bigoted and unprogressive