A Private University Of Texas Clubhouse In Manhattan? Maybe Someday

By alcalde in Blog on May 18, 2010 at 1:26 pm | No Comments

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the Texas Exes are considering establishing a private UT clubhouse in Manhattan along the lines of the Harvard or Yale Clubs. Can this be true?

Well, sort of. Yes, there are alumni of The University of Texas — 10,000 in the New York area alone — who would like to have a space for UT grads, students, and administrators to meet in Manhattan. Is it an official Texas Exes project? No. At least, not yet.

The Journal reports that Williams College is closing its private clubhouse in the Big Apple and posits that some Texas Exes might move right on in. This is a big stretch.

The price, according to the Journal, would be on the order of $21 million (or about $75 million to build one from scratch). For whatever reason, maybe based on an article that the Journal ran in December about our enthusiastic and well-heeled football donors, the Journal seems to think we could come up with the cash, no problem.

The Texas club project is the brainchild of Nate Carty, a former New York City Chapter president and current officer. His work to establish a Texas club is outside of his capacity as a chapter officer but, he says, he is keeping the Texas Exes and the University informed.

“I specifically have set this initiative up as something outside of Texas Exes,” Carty told The Alcalde Tuesday. “While I have certainly kept the chapter in mind in considering the club, I am pursuing this outside of my capacity as an officer in our local chapter.”

That’s not to say the project isn’t a good one, or that it isn’t ever going to happen. According to Carty, there are some other options that might work out — with some ample fundraising, of course.

“The Williams Club presents a potential opportunity in that we might be able to lease the facility, or potentially buy it if we had enough time to raise funds,” Carty wrote in an e-mail. “With a price tag in the $20+MM range, obviously that is more feasible. Either way, even that may be too aggressive a first step. We are exploring right now potential affiliate membership with an existing club.”

So, for now, the Journal can rest easy. We won’t be taking over Manhattan quite yet. But Texas Exes in New York may someday have a place in the city to call home.