Grief Rescue

Longtime Austin grief center requests help after air conditioner theft

Austin's Christi Center has started a GoFundMe to replace its A/C system.

Photo courtesy of KVUE

For nearly 40 years, the Christi Center has been a vital resource for Central Texans navigating the challenges of grief. Now, after the theft of a newly-installed air conditioning unit, the center is turning to the community for help via GoFundMe.

Last week, staff discovered the A/C unit at The Annex, the Christi Center’s largest facility, had been stolen. With Texas temperatures rising, the loss of a climate-controlled space poses a significant challenge for the center's programs.

“When you hear something like that happen to this small, you know, small agency, in this realm, it feels really scary that this is happening in literally our backyard,” said Jocelyn Chamra-Barrera, the Christi Center's executive and clinical director.

The Annex serves as the home of the “Kids Who Care” program, which includes activities like community dinners that support grieving families. Chamra-Barrera said now, those gatherings are paused.

In the meantime, she said the nonprofit has had to relocate larger grief support groups to smaller spaces. With more people seeking help, Barrera added that the lack of a large, reliable space makes it even harder for the Christi Center to serve those in need.

“Even small changes, if we have to pivot to go to the house, or even pivot to go to the library, a conference room, that is going to impact people and it's going to show in their, in their grief,” she said.

Read the full story at KVUE.com.

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Global acclaim

UT Austin ranks No. 1 in Texas on new list of world’s best universities

Photo by Dan Dennis on Unsplash

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Twelve Texas universities show up in a new global ranking of the world's best universities, with the University of Texas at Austin leading schools in the Lone Star State.

UT Austin lands at No. 1 in Texas, No. 20 in the U.S., and No. 68 globally in QS World University Rankings 2026. Four more schools in the University of Texas system also make the list.

QS (Quacquarelli Symonds), a London-based provider of higher education data and analytics, compiles the top universities list each year.

The list contains more than 1,500 universities from around the world. Factors used to rank the schools include academic reputation; employer reputation; faculty-student ratio; faculty research; and international research, students, and faculty.

In all, 192 U.S. universities made the list — the most of any country. Topping the global list is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

“The results show that while U.S. higher education remains the global leader, its dominance is increasingly challenged by fast-rising emerging systems,” says the QS World University Rankings report. “A decade ago, 32 American universities [were] featured in the world’s top 100; today, that number has dropped to 26, and only 11 of these institutions have improved their position this year.”

UT Austin has been on a roll in regional, national, and international rankings the past year, topping U.S. News' 2025 list of best grad schools and ranking No. 30 nationally among best colleges overall; ranking second best college in Texas on WalletHub's 2025 list; earning two top-10 spots on The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur’s lists of the best graduate and undergraduate schools; and ranking as the No. 9 top public university in the U.S. by Niche.

The 12 Texas universities that appear in the QS World University Rankings 2026 list are:

University of Texas at Austin, No. 20 in the U.S. and No. 68 in the world (down from No. 66 last year).
Rice University, No. 29 in the U.S. and No. 119 in the world (up from No. 141 last year).
Texas A&M University, No. 32 in the U.S. and No. 144 in the world (down from No. 154 last year).
University of Houston, No. 80 in the U.S. and No. 556 in the world (up from 651-660 last year).
University of Texas at Dallas, No. 85 in the U.S. and No. 597 in the world (down from 596 last year).
Texas Tech University, No. 104 in the U.S. and No. 731-740 in the world (unchanged from last year).
University of North Texas, No. 123 in the U.S. and No. 901-950 in the world (up from 1,001-1,200 last year)
Baylor University, tied for No. 136 in the U.S. and at No. 1,001-1,200 in the world (unchanged from last year).
Southern Methodist University, tied for No. 136 in the U.S. and at 1,001-1,200 in the world (unchanged from last year).
University of Texas Arlington, tied for No. 136 in the U.S. and at 1,001-1,200 in the world (unchanged from last year).
University of Texas at San Antonio, tied for No. 136 in the U.S. and at 1,001-1,200 in the world (unchanged from last year).
University of Texas at El Paso, No. 172 in the U.S. and at 1,201-1,400 in the world (down from 1,001-1,200 last year).

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