SMU news

SMU president R. Gerald Turner to step down after 30 years

SMU president R. Gerald Turner and his wife, Gail.

Photo by Tamytha Cameron Smith

Dr. R. Gerald Turner is stepping down as president of Southern Methodist University in Dallas, a post he has held for 30 years.

In a YouTube video and letter to the SMU community on August 21, he said, "...it is with an incredible sense of gratitude to the SMU community, I am announcing today that the coming academic year, 2024-2025, will be my last to serve as the 10th President of Southern Methodist University (SMU).

"I have been blessed by remarkable health and energy, along with the consistent support of the Board of Trustees, my wife Gail, my family, and the SMU community," he continued. "But as Trustee Ray Hunt occasionally notes, the calendar is the calendar, and it relentlessly moves forward. Therefore, it is best to transition out of the presidency when momentum is high, as it now is at SMU."

A search committee aims to name a new president by the end of the spring 2025 semester, Turner said.

Turner will become president emeritus of the university when the new president takes office, likely on June 1, 2025, he said. In that full-time capacity, he will report to the new president to continue to support the development and external affairs of the SMU.

Before joining SMU, Turner had been chancellor at the University of Mississippi. At his 1995 SMU Presidential Inauguration, he memorably said, "Life is too short to go to an ugly university." (Indeed, SMU consistently ranks as one of the prettiest college campuses in America.)

Chief among Turner's accomplishments at SMU are:

Two successful major capital campaigns (A Time to Lead, 1997-2002, and Unbridled: The Second Century Campaign, 2008-2015), which provided funding for academic and athletic facilities, scholarships, academic programs, endowed faculty positions, and more.
The recruitment and construction of the George W. Bush Presidential Center.
A current $1.5 billion SMU Ignited major gifts campaign (2021-2028), which is 90% toward its goal.
SMU's new membership in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which officially began July 1, 2024.
Other major construction projects and significant enhancements of academic programs.

SMU has remained a leading U.S. academic institution for business, graduate degrees, and more. Its acclaimed Meadows School of the Arts got a major boon last fall from a $15 million gift that helped create a specialization in music theater. An SMU professor is the current Poet Laureate of Dallas.

"The Board and I are extremely grateful and proud of our shared success during the past 30 years brought about by the generosity of our supporters and the remarkably creative executive administrators, staff, and faculty at SMU," Turner said in his announcement.

"Thank you for 30 years of friendship and support ... let's continue to 'pony up.'"

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Weed News

Texas AG Ken Paxton sues Dallas over decriminalization of marijuana

Photo courtesy of US Fish & Wildlife

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The City of Dallas has been sued by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for its efforts to decriminalize marijuana.

According to a release, Paxton has sued the city for adopting a city charter amendment that would decriminalize marijuana-related offenses and prohibit police from enforcing Texas law.

That amendment was Proposition R, or Dallas Freedom Act, which decriminalizes possession of four ounces of marijuana or less. Voters passed the amendment in the November 5 election, with 67 percent voting in favor.

The lawsuit, filed against the Dallas City Council, alleges that Proposition R is unconstitutional and violates Texas drug laws criminalizing any amount of marijuana.

Paxton says that cities can't "pick and choose which state laws to follow." He's proposing a permanent injunction to stop Proposition R from going into effect.

"The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them," says Paxton in a statement. "This is a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution, and any city that tries to constrain police in this fashion will be met swiftly with a lawsuit by my office.”

Before the recent election, possession of two to four ounces of marijuana could result in a punishment of 180 days in jail and a $2,000 fine.

Ground Game Texas, the activist nonprofit that has also helped get marijuana decriminalization on the ballot in elections across Texas, first got the issue on the ballot in July with the necessary 50,000 signatures.

Dallas is not the only city to be sued; Paxton also filed lawsuits against five other cities in Austin, Denton, Elgin, Killeen, and San Marcos in January for their ballots and policies decriminalizing marijuana.

Both Austin and San Marcos had a judge overturn their cases, according to a FOX 4 report.

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