Jay Hartzell wants Southern Methodist University to become one of the nation’s best schools — and the university’s relationship with Dallas will help it get there, he said Friday at his inauguration as president of the school.
“The question of what is next for SMU is inextricably linked to what is next for Dallas,” he said in presenting his vision for the private school’s future. “It’s clear that Dallas is winning. Companies are moving here. The arts, sports, entertainment scene is special. And quite simply, this is an appealing place to work and to live.”
Dallas’ growth will attract more faculty, staff and students, he said. It will also bring more “influential thought leaders” to campus, and provide students with professional experiences and opportunities to work with Dallas community leaders.
At Moody Coliseum on Friday, Hartzell told the school’s alumni, trustees, faculty and students that SMU’s location is “one of the biggest advantages that we have over others.”
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“SMU attracts and develops brilliance and drives progress, while Dallas amplifies our reach and puts our graduates to work,” Hartzell said.
More than 64,000 SMU alumni live in the DFW region, and more than two-thirds of the school’s graduates choose to stay in North Texas for their first job, he said. That translates to an estimated $7 billion in annual economic impact.
“We import talent,” he said, noting that only 25% of incoming students are from North Texas.
Hartzell, the former University of Texas president, took over in June after R. Gerald Turner stepped down after leading SMU for 30 years. He has said he hopes to build upon his predecessor’s work to “make the walls on campus more permeable.”
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He wants to emphasize volunteer opportunities and internships for students in Dallas so they will choose to stay in the city after graduation, and highlighted SMU’s “power to convene” people, such as the school’s Tate Lecture Series.
It’s important that “all of Dallas feels like special things happen here and they want to be a part of that,” Hartzell told The Dallas Morning News in January.
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SMU board chair David Miller has said he expects Hartzell “to understand the potential of North Texas and embrace the value of SMU truly becoming Dallas’ university — for all of Dallas.”
SMU’s enrollment has grown despite its price tag. For a year of undergraduate education, the university estimates it takes about $86,000 to cover tuition, fees, housing and food.
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Although SMU’s population has become more diverse, its Black and Hispanic student enrollment lags far behind the population in Dallas. More than half of undergraduates come from outside Texas, according to its campus profile. Nearly 70% of first-year students use scholarships or grants to pay for school.
“If you look for universities that have really transformed and improved over the last few decades, they’ve been urban universities. I like the hand we’re dealt,” Hartzell said Friday. “I wouldn’t trade Dallas as this university’s location for any other city in the country.”
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, Judy and Jim Gibbs, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks, and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.