NACOGDOCHES, Texas — **EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above was published Tuesday, April 25.
On Wednesday, the Texas House of Representatives formally passed a bill which seeks to move Stephen F. Austin State University (SFASU) into The University of Texas System.
The bill now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk to be signed into law.
During an interview with CBS19 on Tuesday, SFASU president Steve Westbrook said throughout the eight-month process of the transition of power, some have questioned whether the university will lose its identity.
"As we have made very clear from the start, the name of the university will not change, the colors will remain purple and white, we're Lumberjacks and we're very proud of that," Westbrook said. We've been working really hard to ensure that our faculty, staff and students don't see any interruption in any service through this."
Westbrook says once the governor signs the bill, he expects it will officially go into effect this summer.
In November, the SFA Board of Regents voted 8-1 to join the UT System.
SFA had previously considered the Texas A&M University System, the Texas State University System and the Texas Tech University System
In a presentation, officials said all of the university systems agreed to keeping SFA's name and mascot the same. The proposals also agreed to the importance of finding a president to lead SFA by May 31.
Westbrook has served in an interim role since April 2022 after former President Scott Gordon stepped down.
To learn more on SFA joining the UT System click here.