University of Texas Longhorn band won't play "The Eyes of Texas" this weekend after some members say they're unwilling
The Longhorn Band will not play the “The Eyes of Texas” at this Saturday’s football game between the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University after a survey of members revealed several students are refusing to play the traditional alma mater song, according to The Daily Texan.
Student athletes asked UT-Austin to drop the school song during this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, among other demands, threatening to forgo participation in recruiting and donor events. The university responded with plans to boost Black student enrollment and recruitment, but it kept the song and pledged to educate visitors and students on its history and context.
“Together, we have the power to define what the Eyes of Texas expect of us, what they demand of us, and what standard they hold us to now,” Hartzell said in the statement in July. “‘The Eyes of Texas’ should not only unite us, but hold all of us accountable to our institution’s core values. But we first must own the history. Only then can we reimagine its future.”
Removing “The Eyes of Texas” song was not the student’s only demand this past summer. Student-athletes and other groups also insisted UT remove a statue of James Hogg, a prominent segregationist, rename some campus buildings named after Texans who held racist views, and donate 0.5% of the athletic department’s earnings to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The university said it would add plaques to statues to educate visitors about the Littlefield Fountain, the statue of Hogg, and pedestals on which multiple statues stood until 2017. They also pledged to erect statues honoring Black figures in UT-Austin’s history and rename two campus structures, including the Robert L. Moore Building which was named after a UT mathematician who refused to teach Black students.
The Longhorn Band will not play the “The Eyes of Texas” at this Saturday’s football game between the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University after a survey of members revealed several students are refusing to play the traditional alma mater song, according to The Daily Texan.
University of Texas Longhorn band won't play "The Eyes of Texas" this weekend after some members say they're unwilling
The Longhorn Band will not play the “The Eyes of Texas” at this Saturday’s football game between the University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University after a survey of members revealed several students are refusing to play the traditional alma mater song, according to The Daily Texan.
www.texastribune.org
Student athletes asked UT-Austin to drop the school song during this summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, among other demands, threatening to forgo participation in recruiting and donor events. The university responded with plans to boost Black student enrollment and recruitment, but it kept the song and pledged to educate visitors and students on its history and context.
“Together, we have the power to define what the Eyes of Texas expect of us, what they demand of us, and what standard they hold us to now,” Hartzell said in the statement in July. “‘The Eyes of Texas’ should not only unite us, but hold all of us accountable to our institution’s core values. But we first must own the history. Only then can we reimagine its future.”
Removing “The Eyes of Texas” song was not the student’s only demand this past summer. Student-athletes and other groups also insisted UT remove a statue of James Hogg, a prominent segregationist, rename some campus buildings named after Texans who held racist views, and donate 0.5% of the athletic department’s earnings to the Black Lives Matter movement.
The university said it would add plaques to statues to educate visitors about the Littlefield Fountain, the statue of Hogg, and pedestals on which multiple statues stood until 2017. They also pledged to erect statues honoring Black figures in UT-Austin’s history and rename two campus structures, including the Robert L. Moore Building which was named after a UT mathematician who refused to teach Black students.