UT-Austin football players say donor anger sparked “Eyes of Texas” mandate

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

Previously, some student athletes had chosen not to participate after several games, as the song had become a hot spot during the summer, especially for black student-athletes, given the historical links of the alma mater song. with the campus minstrel shows.

Soccer players said athletics officials, in a meeting with players after the Oklahoma game, referred to donor emails saying protests could affect their job prospects after graduation. -se. At least one other player, former defensive end Caden Sterns, made a similar claim in a tweet on Monday, but refused to be interviewed.

“They said you shouldn’t sing to them. But you have to stay in the field. You all have to go and at least show gratitude to the fans for coming out and seeing how you play, ”junior defender DeMarvion Overshown said in a phone interview Tuesday.

Athletic director Chris Del Conte said Wednesday that he had not heard donors or alumni threaten job opportunities, adding that he was concerned that players would have that impression. He denied that players were forced to remain on the field.

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

But the players said the mandate showed them that university officials were prioritizing donor wishes over team members, some of whom had been vocal in opposition over the summer and falling on their rejection of the song.

“It was really eye-opening,” Overshown said. “They’re some great people who come to see you play and they can keep 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 this as a threat to 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 memory of the encounter with the Tribune. That player asked not to be named, for fear of retribution from the university and donors. He said it was Del Conte who told the players that donors were unhappy and threatened to get financial support.

“He kept saying these guys provide it to you. … He mentioned,‘ We have donors talking about taking money out of the south [stadium addition project], stopping their donations, “the second player said.

Overshown declined to name athletic officials, but the second player said it was former coach Tom Herman and Del Conte who conveyed the donors’ feelings.

Del Conte denied that he had said any statement or that the donors had passed on those comments.

“I never said it, nor would I say it to a student-athlete, and I have never heard of any donor or student. My message has been constantly about unity. I’m disappointed if something else told our student-athletes to make them feel that way. That worries me, “he said in an emailed statement.” I’ve talked to several student-athletes about this and I’m happy to talk to anyone to let them know that’s not true. I’ve only seen our alumni work. students to support our student-athletes ”.

Herman, who left college after being fired in January, was unable to contact him for comment.

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

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

I want to clarify that I have held many conversations with our head coaches to set out my expectations for our teams to show gratitude to our university, fans and supporters, by staying together as a unified group for ‘The Eyes’, while we work on this issue, ”Del Conte wrote in his weekly message to fans at the time.

Sterns, the former defensive back, tweeted Monday that donors had threatened the players’ future job prospects.

“Some alumni threatened us with my teammates that we would have to find work outside of Texas if we didn’t participate.” He wrote.

Sterns declined to comment on the article, saying it 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 rostrum via a direct message on Twitter.

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

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

Overshown, who has been one of the most outspoken players, briefly boycotted team practice in early July, but returned after UT-Austin announced a series of changes in response to student calls about improving equality racial on campus.

The emails obtained by Tribune in a request for public records showed that many alumni, donors and fans were outraged by Ehlinger’s images only after the Oklahoma game for the postgame song. The rest of the team had retired from the field. (Ehlinger later said he was only left alone on the field to talk to coaches).

“The photos I see on social media of Sam Ehlinger standing alone after the game with the horns up to the fight song have upset me,” a person who identified himself as the headline of Hartzell wrote to Hartzell. a 25-year pass. Its name was drafted by UT-Austin, citing laws on open records that protect certain donor identities.

“These young people came to the university knowing perfectly well what was expected of them ….. one of those things has ALWAYS been to respect the university and its traditions. Love it or leave it. How dare they? to accept scholarships and not to respect this university with its pettiness … ”

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

“Tell those‘ students ’who don’t want to play that they’re out of the band and let others play,” Linden R. Welsch, a 1969 class, wrote in Hartzell after it was announced that the Longhorn Band didn’t want to play. the alma mater after the football match against Baylor University. “This is the same problem you have with the football team. You let the inmates run the asylum. Allow political correctness / social justice or anything to take over and you have lost control. He is stupid and shows a total lack of leadership. “

Welsch, who the Mayor’s alumni magazine describes as a university donor “member of life,” told Tribune that the email summarized his concerns and had no additional comment.

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

“People who target our students with hateful opinions do not represent the values ​​of the Longhorn community,” he said. “Some extremist views from the email sample reported by the Texas Tribune do not speak for the proud 540,000 Longhorn alumni who actively support our students and universities. Of the many emails I received this fall, a very small number included comments that were truly nasty and hateful. I categorically reject them and they do not influence any aspect of our decision-making ”.

“Just because we don’t all agree on our school song doesn’t mean 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 remove the song from school. About 70% testified and demanded that the song stay. The rest expressed no opinion on removing or preserving the song.

Connor O’Neill, a senior at UT-Austin, co-director of the Longhorn Athletic Agency, a group that provides voice to student government sports students, said student leaders were not very pleased with Hartzell’s statement.

“President Hartzell basically said they were just a few thousand fans, but the problem is you know these few people are the ones who have a lot of power,” he said. “It’s the donors who give millions of dollars and the ones who say ‘shut up and water.'”

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

Two weeks after last October’s team meeting, the Texas Longhorns played Baylor University in Austin and won. After the game, the whole team went to the fan section to hear how an audio recording of “The Eyes of Texas” sounded. The Longhorn Band did not find enough members to play the necessary instruments, another controversy that spurred another wave of emails from angry donors.

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

“It made me realize how much money people will make here,” Overshown said. “The fact that someone said we had our backs 100%, but still it’s about money, donors and what they want, then it’s a completely different story.”

As he played the song, he got on one knee.

Outreach: The University of Texas at Austin and the University of Baylor have provided financial support to The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters have no role in Tribune journalism. Find a full list here.