Sen. Brandon Creighton’s switch from lawmaking to Texas Tech leader signals a new era for higher ed

From left: Glen Hegar, chancellor of the Texas A&M University System; Brandon Creighton, sole finalist for Texas Tech University System chancellor; and John Zerwas, chancellor of the University of Texas System. Texas' public universities have recently favored politically connected leaders for their systems' top jobs. (Credit: The Texas Tribune)

---

As the clock wound down on the year’s second overtime legislative session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, the powerful leader of the Texas Senate, took a few minutes to say goodbye to his right-hand man, Sen. Brandon Creighton: The architect of a recent bevy of laws reshaping higher education in Texas — from the ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs to limits on protests and faculty’s influence on campuses — was stepping down to take a new job overseeing those very changes.