Texas universities promised action after summer’s racial reckoning. But they're still reluctant to shed Confederate relics. Texas Tribune Tags: Shifa Rahman, left, and a fellow protestor, hold signs at the base of the William Marsh Rice statue on campus. Rahman has spent an hour on campus nearly every day calling for the removal of the statue since August of 2020. Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune , our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. This summer, students called on the University of Texas at Austin to stop playing the “Eyes of Texas,” the alma mater song which has historical minstrel show ties. Aggies petitioned Texas A&M University to take down the statue of Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross, a former governor and Confederate general. Students at Rice University demanded removal of the monument of the school founder, William "Willy" Rice, a slave owner.