Fort Worth City Councilman Joel Burns made a big announcement during Tuesday evening's City Council meeting -- that he's resigning and heading to Harvard.
Burns made the announcement from his seat during a tearful address to the City Council, in which he said he'd be giving up his District 9 seat to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
Burns served on the council for seven years and is best known for his "It Gets Better" anti-bullying speech that went viral in Oct. 2010. Burns received a standing ovation that night.
The YouTube video has racked up more than 2.8 million views, and his office has received hundreds of phone calls and thousands of emails from around the country.
Burns has addressed HKS several times since his speech. He will pursue his master's degree in public administration.
No word when his resignation will be official, but Mayor Betsy Price said Burns' resignation will have to be effective earlier than this summer so that his replacement can be elected on the May ballot.
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A clip of Burns' resignation speech will be posted on his YouTube channel after the meeting.
