UT-Austin footballers say donor anger has led to the “Eyes of Texas” mandate

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Sports officials at the University of Texas told Longhorn football players in October that they had to stay on the pitch after the game of “The Eyes of Texas” singing along with fans because donors were upset with athletes protesting against game day tradition, two Longhorn football players told The Texas Tribune.

Previously, some student athletes chose not to participate after several games, as music became a hot spot during the summer – especially for black student athletes – due to the historical ties of alma mater music to campus minstrel shows.

Football players said athletics officials, in a meeting with players after the Oklahoma game, consulted e-mails from donors who said the protests could impact their job prospects after graduation. At least one other player, former defensive linebacker Caden Sterns, made a similar statement in a tweet on Monday, but did not want to give an interview.

“They said that you don’t have to sing. But you have to stay in the field. You have to go there and at least show your fans your appreciation for coming and watching you play, ”said junior linebacker DeMarvion Overshown in a phone interview on Tuesday.

Atlético director Chris Del Conte said on Wednesday that he did not know that donors or alumni had threatened job opportunities, adding that he was concerned that players would have that impression. He denied that the players were forced to remain on the pitch.

“We simply asked for their help – no one was forced or forced to do so,” he said in a statement.

But the players said the mandate shows that university officials prioritize donor wishes rather than team members, some of whom were vocal in the opposition during the summer and fall over the rejection of the song.

“It was really revealing,” said Overshown. “These are some high-powered people who come to watch you play and can prevent you from getting a job in the state of Texas. It was shocking that they said that. To this day, I still think about the moment. They really used it as a threat to get us to try to do what they wanted us to do. “

A second player, who was on the team during the 2020 season, shared a similar reminder of the Tribune encounter. That player asked not to be identified, for fear of retaliation on the part of the university and donors. He said it was Del Conte who told the players that the donors were dissatisfied and threatened to withdraw financial support.

“He kept saying that these guys provide this for you. … He was mentioning: ‘We have donors talking about withdrawing money from the southern end zone [stadium addition project], interrupting his donations’, said the second player.

Overshown declined to name the sports officials, but the second player said it was former coach Tom Herman and Del Conte who expressed donor sentiment.

Del Conte denied making any statements or that donors relayed those comments.

“I never said that, nor would I say it to a student-athlete, and I never heard that from any donor or alumni. My message has consistently been about unity. I am disappointed if anything else that someone said to our student-athletes made them feel that way. It worries me, ”he said in an e-mailed statement. “I have already talked to several student-athletes about this and I am happy to speak with anyone to let them know that this is not true. I only saw our former students working to support our student-athletes ”.

Herman, who left the university after being fired in January, was not immediately available for comment.

The Dallas Morning News previously reported that students were instructed to stay on the field for “The Eyes” at the meeting with Del Conte and Herman after the Oklahoma game, when former defender Sam Ehlinger made headlines for being alone in the field during the post-game tradition when players usually sing the alma mater song with fans.

At the time, Del Conte said he was clarifying his expectations for the players.

“I want to clarify that I had a lot of conversations with our top coaches outlining my expectations that our teams will show appreciation for our university, fans and supporters by staying together as a unified group for ‘The Eyes’ while working on this issue,” Del Conte wrote in your weekly message to fans of the time.

Sterns, the former defender, tweeted on Monday that donors threatened players’ future job prospects.

“My teammates and I were threatened by some alumni that we would have to find jobs outside of Texas if we didn’t participate.” He wrote.

Sterns declined to comment for this article, saying he was focused on the NFL draft.

“I have nothing but love for UT and Texas, I just want to help make it a better place as much as I can,” he told the Tribune via a direct message on Twitter.

His tweet was a response to a Tribune article that revealed that at least 75 alumni and donors sent emails to UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell, threatening to withdraw financial support if the university got rid of the “Eyes of Texas” .

Music has been at the center of a storm since last summer, when athletes and students asked the school to stop singing after the games. The song – played to the sound of “I’ve been working on the railroad” – has historically been played on campus minstrel shows, and the title is linked to a saying by Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee.

Overshown, which has been among the most outspoken players, briefly boycotted the team’s practice in early July, but returned after UT-Austin announced a series of changes in response to student calls on how to improve racial equality on campus.

E-mails obtained by Tribune in a request for public records showed that many alumni, donors and fans were outraged by the images of Ehlinger alone after the Oklahoma game for the post-game song. The rest of the team had withdrawn from the field. (Ehlinger said later that he was just hanging out on the field alone to talk to the coaches.)

“The photos I am seeing on Sam Ehlinger’s social media alone after the game with the horns raised to the sound of fighting music make me sick,” wrote one person identified as having a 25-year ticket for the 25-year season. His name was drafted by UT-Austin, citing open registration laws that protect certain donor identities.

“These young people came to the university knowing very well what was expected of them … one of those things ALWAYS was respecting the university and its traditions. LOVE it or leave it. How dare you accept scholarships and disrespect this university with your stinginess … ”

Several emails sent to the president from June to the end of October insisted that university officials penalize students who broke the tradition.

“Tell these ‘students’ that they don’t want to play, they are out of the band and let the others play,” wrote Linden R. Welsch, class of 1969, to Hartzell after it was announced that the Longhorn Band would not play alma mater after the football game against Baylor University. “This is the same problem that you have with the football team. You let the prisoners run the asylum. You allow the politically correct / social justice or whatever it is to take over and lose control. It is stupid and shows a total lack of leadership. “

Welsch, who The Alcalde alumni magazine calls the university donor “Life Member”, told the Tribune that the email summed up his concerns and he had no further comment.

On Tuesday morning, Hartzell released a statement in response to the Tribune article on donor emails.

“People who target our students with hateful views do not represent the values ​​of the Longhorn community,” he said. “Some extremist opinions in the sample of emails that the Texas Tribune reported do not speak for the 540,000 proud Longhorn alumni who actively support our students and the university. Of the many emails I received this fall, a very small number included really disgusting and hateful comments. I categorically reject them, and they have no influence on any aspect of our decision making. “

“The fact that we don’t agree with the school’s music does not mean that we don’t all belong.”

Of the 300 emails sent to the president’s office between June and October, only 11 explicitly urged Hartzell to free the school from music. About 70% pleaded and demanded the permanence of the music. The rest did not express an opinion to remove or maintain the song.

UT-Austin veteran Connor O’Neill, co-director of the Longhorn Athletic Agency, a group that gives voice to student athletes within the student government, said student leaders were not satisfied with Hartzell’s statement.

“President Hartzell basically said they were just a few of the thousands of fans, but the problem is that you know that those few people are the ones who have a lot of power,” he said. “They are the donors donating millions of dollars and the ones who say ‘shut up and drool'”.

Hartzell said the Texas Eye History Committee, which was organized to study the history of music, will release its report next week. He said the university community could continue the conversation about music when “equipped with a common set of facts”.

Two weeks after the team’s meeting last October, Texas Longhorns faced Baylor University in Austin and won. After the game, the whole team went to the fan section to listen to an audio recording of “The Eyes of Texas”. The Longhorn Band was unable to find enough members to play the necessary instruments, another controversy that sparked another flurry of emails from angry donors.

For Overshown, staying on the pitch after Baylor’s game was another moment of clarity.

“It made me realize what money will make people do here,” said Overshown. “The fact that someone says they protected us 100%, but it is still about money and donors and what they want, so it’s a completely different story.”

While the music was playing, he knelt down.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University have financially supported The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, non-partisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in Tribune journalism. Find a complete list of them here.