Reports started circulating Friday — in what faculty critics are calling a “July 4 coup” — that Francisco Cigarroa, chancellor of the University of Texas System, had told Powers to either resign or face dismissal by the Board of Regents. The reports said that Powers has said that he is willing to talk about a retirement plan, but not to quit immediately. While UT system and Austin officials are not commenting on the reports, two anonymous sources with knowledge of the discussions confirmed to Inside Higher Ed both the ultimatum given to Powers and his response.

Faculty leaders are demanding that Cigarroa and the board stop trying to oust Powers, and have called a special faculty meeting for Wednesday to plot strategy….

Cigarroa’s reversal, when he has already announced his plans to leave the system chancellorship, has set off competing theories of why he would move against Powers now.

Conservative bloggers — who have been critical of Powers — are attributing the shift to what they have called an “admissions scandal” at UT. The first entity to report that Powers could lose his job in the coming week was Breitbart, which has defended a controversial University of Texas regent, Wallace Hall. Hall is currently facing possible impeachment in the Texas House of Representatives for investigations of Powers that many legislators believe have crossed the line from oversight to a witch hunt. Hall’s supporters have said that he is being punished for drawing attention to letters written by legislators on behalf of applicants to UT Austin….