Popular Vote Might Win

Houston City U becomes the new name favorite at UH-Downtown

The University of Houston-Downtown sits atop Buffalo Bayou and is a separatefour-year university that is part of the UH System.
City University lost the popular vote decisively.

The unpopular decision to find a new popular name for the University of Houston-Downtown is moving forward. And we have a winner ....

(Not that it necessarily means anything.)

Results of a university-conducted straw poll show that Houston City University is the preferred choice of students, faculty and alumni over City University. Houston City University received 1,177 votes from current students, compared to 228 for City University.

The school's Board of Regents — which made the still largely unpopular decision to change UH-Downtown's name in the first place — is not bound to listen to the poll results though. The Board hopes that by changing the UH-Downtown's name it can create a new identity for the school that separates it from the University of Houston, the school it's often confused with.

Although the majority of voters chose Houston City University, it's not exactly a majority sampling. UH-Downtown has 12,742 students and 27,369 alumni. Voter turnout — like in most polls or elections — was downright dismal.

The Board of Regents are determined to change UH-Downtown's name to differentiate it from University of Houston (which is a mere five miles down I-45). The initial push came from former UH-Downtown president, Max Castillo and is now an issue for new president, William V. Flores.

There are rumblings on campus that the University of Houston-Downtown will not get an MBA program if the school does not change its name, but there's no evidence to back that view (at least yet).

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”