UT ANNOUNCES CHANGES AMID FOOTBALL PROTESTS
The University of Texas has announced a sweeping plan to address concerns voiced by protesting athletes and others on the Austin campus.
The plan includes the renaming of Texas' football field for Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams and a statue for Texas' first Black football letterman.
Longhorns players had requested the removal of "The Eyes of Texas" as the school song, but the school announced it will remain, while the school will teach about its origins, which were in a minstrel show featuring performers in blackface in 1903, hoping "to reclaim and redefine what this song stands for, first by owning and acknowledging its history in a way that is open and transparent."
At Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Texas will erect a statue of Julius Whittier, who in 1970 became the first Black player to letter for the Longhorns. It will also rename Joe Jamail Field at the stadium in honor of Texas' two Heisman Trophy winners, Earl Campbell and Ricky Williams, at the request of the family of the late Jamail, a prominent Texas booster.
Monday, Texas interim president Jay Hartzell announced a set of diversity initiatives that included "reconsidering how to best reflect the university's values, both in the symbols and names on campus and in the openness with which UT tells its history."
The athletes also requested inclusion of programs for incoming freshmen discussing the history of racism on campus, and an outreach program for cities such as Austin, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, along with .5 percent of athletics revenue donated to Black organizations and the Black Lives Matter movement.
The school addressed each of these, saying it would be allocating a "multimillion-dollar investment from Texas Athletics' revenue" to programs that work to recruit, attract, retain and support Black students, and said it will expand UT's presence and outreach in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and elsewhere.
The school said the timeline for the changes will be released in the future as each project begins.
I am glad to see UT wanting to educate rather than completely cave to those who say anything. Changes are give and take, applause.
The changes are after consulting with staff across many departments, and they are thoughtful and measured. Having two children currently at UT, I am very happy with how they are addressing the concerns of the students. The changes are designed to bring the students together at a time when there could be a big divide. It’s not just hurt feelings – Elijah McClain, Ahmaud Arbury, and George Floyd had more than their feelings hurt.
I wonder if the University consulted with its History Department and other relevant departments to check the facts and the substantiations of these athletes before committing to such a makeover. To my thinking, if slaves were brought to Stephen F. Austin’s colony, then maybe the entire town of Austin should be renamed.
See what happens when you put all that emphasis on sports–while the athletes may have been considered to be beneficial to the football program, all the income they brought in will be spent renaming, rewriting, and reconfiguring the University. Way to support the BLM, Texas Exes, and with an interim president at that!
So they will be donating UT funds to support a Marxist organization?
They won’t be getting my money to donate to Marxists for sure……going fishing on Saturdays from now on
Most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. What else will everybody bend to, because somebodies feeling got hurt.
Yes ma’am.
The old saying is,” The more you give, the more they take.”
Life is rough, and not fair, and your feelings will get hurt, if you let them.
Get used to kids.
At least UT is keeping their song, for now.