Veronica Vargas Stidvent, director of the Center for Politics and Governance (CPG) in the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, has been appointed to the Texas Human Rights Commission, Texas Governor Rick Perry has announced. Stidvent replaces Patricia Asip of Plano, whose term expires on Feb. 1.
The Texas Human Rights Commission investigates statewide employment and housing discrimination. The Commission seeks to assure open access to the educational system, provide for Texas’s transportation needs, meet the basic health care needs of Texans, provide economic opportunities and grow businesses, and provide for the safety and security of all inside Texas’ borders.
Stidvent has previously served as the assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Labor, where she provided advice and counsel to the secretary of labor on labor issues that affect the American worker, including immigration reform, worker health and safety, and job training. Prior to her appointment as assistant secretary, Stidvent served in the White House as special assistant to the president for policy in the George W. Bush administration where she helped develop policy on a range of issue, including labor, education, justice, homeland security and regulatory reform. Before that, she was a policy adviser in the Office of Management and Budget’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In that position, she provided counsel on federal regulatory policy and coordinated the implementation of new rules with the federal agencies and senior White House officials.
Perry named Thomas M. Anderson, a human rights executive and president of the HR Houston Board of Directors, as the chair of the Commission and Danny L. Osterhout, general manager of Magneto Service and Supply, to the spot being vacated by Nela Wipf of Harlingen.
Learn more about Perry’s appointments to the Texas Human Rights Commission.
