Jay Hartzell didn’t set out to leave the University of Texas’ flagship campus for a smaller private college near downtown Dallas. But after SMU board members began aggressively recruiting him for their soon-to-be-vacant president job,

University of Texas President Jay Hartzell is leaving UT to become the next president of Southern Methodist University, the private university announced Tuesday.

Hartzell leaves UT-Austin after four years of tense political battles and legislative efforts to implement a more conservative vision of public higher ed.