University of Texas Faces New Outcry Over Old Song With Minstrel Roots
Many students want “The Eyes of Texas” to go. Wealthy alumni insist it should stay. The dispute has become a flash point as universities struggle to deal with traditions spawned in earlier eras.
Fans singing “The Eyes of Texas” at a University of Texas football game in Austin in November.Credit.Jay Janner/USA Today Sports, via Reuters
May 7, 2021
SAN ANTONIO For generations, the fight song at the University of Texas at Austin has been etched into the state’s very fabric. For students, the words “the eyes of Texas are upon you” have been sung before and after every sporting event and commencement. Beyond the campus, the song is ever-present at weddings and funerals and even space, where it was a wake-up call for astronauts on the Gemini, Apollo and Skylab missions.
Skip to main content
Currently Reading
Students refuse to work, man pulls out gun as tensions rise at UT-Austin over The Eyes of Texas
Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune
May 4, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
Sam Ehlinger grew up in burnt orange, but many of his teammates have far different feelings about the “Eyes of Texas.”Tim Warner /Getty Images
Dozens of students at the University of Texas at Austin who give campus tours to prospective Longhorns are refusing to work this week over a dispute about a plaque with “The Eyes of Texas” lyrics hanging in the Admissions Welcome Center.
The dustup over the plaque is the latest example of UT-Austin officials standing by “The Eyes” over pleas that the university distance itself from the alma mater song because it originated at a minstrel show where students likely wore Blackface.
Tensions boil at UT-Austin over The Eyes of Texas , where students are refusing to work
Kate McGee, Texas Tribune
FacebookTwitterEmail
1of2
In this file photo, students walk through the University of Texas at Austin campus near the school s iconic tower.Eric Gay/APShow MoreShow Less
2of2
The Longhorn Band of the University of Texas at Austin perform during the opening of the 2017 Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl game in 2017.Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Houston ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
Dozens of students at the University of Texas at Austin who give campus tours to prospective Longhorns are refusing to work this week over a dispute about a plaque with “The Eyes of Texas” lyrics hanging in the Admissions Welcome Center.
Student tour guides at UT-Austin are going on strike this week over a debate about whether to remove a plaque in the Admissions Welcome Center with The Eyes of Texas lyrics on it. Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Daily Texan
Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.
Dozens of students at the University of Texas at Austin who give campus tours to prospective Longhorns are refusing to work this week over a dispute about a plaque with “The Eyes of Texas” lyrics hanging in the Admissions Welcome Center.
Students are refusing to work and a man with a gun crashed a virtual event
Kate McGee, The Texas Tribune
May 4, 2021
FacebookTwitterEmail
AUSTIN, TX - SEPTEMBER 08: Head coach Tom Herman of the Texas Longhorns sings The Eyes of Texas after the game against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on September 8, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)Tim Warner, Stringer / Getty Images
Dozens of students at the University of Texas at Austin who give campus tours to prospective Longhorns are refusing to work this week over a dispute about a plaque with “The Eyes of Texas” lyrics hanging in the Admissions Welcome Center.