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.
The eyes of Texas are once again on The Eyes of Texas
FacebookTwitterEmail
1of2
The Longhorn Band of the University of Texas at Austin performed during the opening of the 2017 Academy Sports + Outdoors Texas Bowl game at NRG Stadium on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2017, in Houston.Yi-Chin Lee, Houston Chronicle / Houston ChronicleShow MoreShow Less
2of2
FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2012 file photo, students walk through the University of Texas at Austin campus near the school s iconic tower in Austin, Texas.Eric Gay, STF / Associated PressShow MoreShow Less
Grappling with painful truths about our state’s history and how those truths persist or reverberate today can be unpleasant, divisive and difficult.
Behind the Scenes of UT s The Eyes of Texas Controversy – Texas Monthly texasmonthly.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from texasmonthly.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.