July 8, 2014

Chairman Paul Foster

Members of the Board of Regents
Chancellor Francisco Cigarroa
The University of Texas System
601 Colorado Street,
Austin, TX 78701

Dear Chairman Foster, Members of the Board of Regents, and Chancellor Cigarroa:

As presidents and vice presidents of the UT Austin student body during the presidency of Bill
Powers, we write to express our most sincere, steadfast support for his administration and the
work he has done for the students of UT Austin. While President Powers accomplishments are
well known (including but not limited to his presently chairing the prestigious Association of
American Universities), we offer you the viewpoint of student leaders who collaborated with him
in the pursuit of advancing UT Austin as a world class research university that is educating and
training the next generation of Texas, national, and global leaders.

When we visited with our student leadership counterparts at other universities, we realized how
fortunate we were to have an administration that was readily accessible and that sought student
input on the full range of issuesfrom tuition and budgetary planning to curricular reform and
campus safety. While many student leaders on other campuses never had the opportunity to meet
their institutions president, we interacted with President Powers on a regular basis. He came to
Student Government meetings to get the pulse of the student body; he attended athletic events,
organizational exhibitions, and academic fairs; he walked through the West Mall, flashing a
Hookem to students on their way to class. There is a reason why Bill Powers is so loved by
students of the University: he is their president, he is our president.

During our tenures, we had the great honor and privilege to represent over 150,000 students to
the UT Austin and System administrations, Board of Regents, and Texas Legislature. A diverse
constituency of this size is impossible to bring to consensus; having had the opportunity to work
with many of you and many of your predecessors, we respect that you also have a complicated
set of stakeholders to navigate and engage. At the end of the day, we know that students should
rise to the top of this list, and therefore, we urge you to listen to the current students and those
that spent time on the 40 Acres while Bill Powers has been at the helmthe students we worked
to representto hear the overwhelming support that he has as our Universitys president.

As you appropriately stated, Chancellor Cigarroa, the University is more than one individual
whether he or she is a president, regent, chancellor, faculty member, or other administrator. In
fact, the University is more aptly described as a collection of studentsstudents who attend the
University to receive a world class education, participate in cutting-edge research, test their
leadership potential, and grow as individuals who are seeking to go out and change the world.
First hand, we know President Powers shares this view and that is why he wakes up every
morning to make the University a better place for the students who go there.

A great institution can be torn apart by the instability of the last few years. By calling for the
immediate dismissal of Bill Powers, you would only further the uncertainty in which the
University currently finds itself. For the sake of UT Austin, the UT System, and the State of
Texas, we ask you to put aside the brinksmanship and think of the students you all stepped up to
serve. These are students who support Bill Powers. These are students who will be the future
leaders of our communities. Please do not do them a disservice. We ask that you allow for a
longer-term transition plan for the important role of the presidency of UT Austin that will create
the stability for the institution that these students deserve.

Respectfully,

Ashley Baker
Student Body Vice President, 2011-12

Wills Brown
Student Body Vice President, 2012-13
Natalie Butler
Student Body President, 2011-12

Muneezeh Kabir Carpenter
Student Body Vice President, 2010-11

Marcus Ceniceros
Student Body Vice President, 2006-07

Omar Ochoa
Student Body President, 2005-06

Liam ORourke
Student Body President, 2009-10

Scott Parks
Student Body President, 2010-11
Kori Rady
Student Body President, 2014-15

Keshav Rajagopalan
Student Body President, 2008-09

Danielle Rugoff
Student Body President, 2006-07

Frankie Shulkin
Student Body Vice President, 2008-09
Andrew Solomon
Student Body President, 2007-08

Taylor Strickland
Student Body Vice President, 2014-15

Nicole Trinh Sumner
Student Body Vice President, 2007-08

Shara Ma Tsai
Student Body Vice President, 2009-10

Horacio Villarreal
Student Body President, 2013-14

Ugeo Williams
Student Body Vice President, 2013-14