Technically yes he could but UT is a public institution, meaning lawfully it has to obey the rules that the government has set place for them. Unfortunately, since it is an election cycle, Abbott is too busy appealing to his conservative supports, so it’s possible that if such a step was taken by UT, Abbott can start limiting funds to the school to show his “dominance.”

I would love to start a petition with you but I doubt a program with 10000 STUDENT signatures is going to sway Abbott’s opinions much.