Serving The University Of Texas At Austin Community Since 1900 @thedailytexan | thedailytexan.com
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Volume 121, Issue 47
NEWS
OPINION
SPORTS
LIFE&ARTS
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Hodor speaks about his Game of Thrones career, DJ experience and coming out story.
Students need increased transparency about availiability of coding classes.
The loudest, proudest football fans in the stands: Longhorn Hellraisers.
Joyner Holmes looks to return to the court after struggles with adversity.
UNIVERSITY
UT minorities underrepresented Demographics at UT reveal lack of representation toward Native Americans, blacks and Hispanics. By Lauren Grobe @grobe_lauren
he University has committed itself to maintaining a diverse population, but according to the Chronicle of Higher Education, minorities remain disproportionately represented at UT. Of the 7,856 students admitted in 2017, only 30% of them were underrepresented racial minorities, meaning Native American, Hispanic and black students, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Of the college-age residents in Texas, 60% are underrepresented minorities, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Government junior Jesus Torres said he does not feel the University’s student body is diverse racially. “Coming to a university where I couldn’t find a single Latinx for a couple of weeks and a lot of my classes don’t have African Americans — it’s a culture shock,” Torres said. The admissions process is designed to admit a diverse population of students, said Miguel Wasielewski, executive director of admissions. If an applicant is in the top 6% of their graduating class, they are automatically admitted to the University. If not, the University does a holistic review of the application, including factors such as extracurriculars and race, Wasielewski said. “No single element within the holistic review is worth more than any other element,” Wasielewski said.
emma overholt
“It’s about the entire file together, what is that final score that’s given to the file.” Torres said the racial demographics at the University are vastly different from the environment he had grown up in and did not match his idea of Texas’ population. “I feel like Texas is a big, diverse state,” Torres said. “I didn’t feel like I belonged for a good year.” Wasielewski said the University does not try to mimic state demographics with its admissions decisions as that would be considered a racial quota, which he said is illegal. “We are in no way trying to replicate the population of this state,” Wasielewski said. Automatic admission is considered one way to diversify the
It’s a way to bring in people who have been outcasted or people who have been deprived of opportunity.” JESUS TORRES government junior
applicant pool, as it pulls from Texas public schools. Torres said automatic admission helps minority groups get into universities such as UT. “It’s a way to bring in people who have been outcasted or people who have been deprived of opportunity,” Torres said. “A lot of kids dream about coming here.” However, Suzi Goevl, government and Spanish sophomore, said she thinks automatic admissions should be removed. “I feel like holistic reviews are definitely the way to go,” Goevl said. “That’s just a better way to make sure we’re getting people who actually want to be here.” Wasielewski said the University has to meet certain conditions according to state law, so 90% of incoming freshman must
/ the daily texan staff
be Texas residents, and 75% of the Texas residents must be auto-admit students. “We have to forecast how many students will actually accept their offer for admission to UT-Austin,” Wasielewski said. Students for Fair Admissions, a nonprofit that advocates against racial consideration during admissions, filed a lawsuit against the University in May claiming using race in its admission process is discriminatory, according to the lawsuit. Torres said race should be a factor in admissions because race affects your life circumstances and can put you at a disadvantage. “The color your skin does create your experience of life, especially in the educational system,” Torres said.
WEST CAMPUS
CAMPUS
West Campus food truck diversifies food scene, introduces West African cuisine
New student committee addresses intersection of race, environment By Lauren Morales @lamor_1217
kirsten hahn
/ the daily texan staff
African Delights owner Amina serves government Ph.D. student Kevin Galambos at her food truck located behind the University Co-op on Oct. 15, 2019. The food truck is bringing traditional West African dishes to campus. By Sara Johnson @skjohn1999
A new food truck opened last Wednesday behind the University Co-op, bringing the taste of African cuisine closer to campus. African Delights offers a small, seasonal menu of West African cuisine and operates between 11:30 a.m. and 2:45
p.m., according to a sign on the front of the food truck. The owner of African Delights could not be reached to comment on their business. The current menu includes items such as Senegalese yassa chicken, fish ball stew and beef patties. Rheal Zackaria, African Student Organization outreach officer, said these are typical West African comfort foods. “This is the kind of stuff you make for close family and friends,” Zackaria, an
economics and Arabic sophomore, said. “My mom sometimes makes chicken yassa when I come back to visit, almost like a welcome home thing.” Zackaria said the arrival of the food truck makes African culture more available to students, since there are not as many African food options available near campus. CUISINE
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The Campus Environmental Center created a new committee to address the intersection of social issues and the environmental protection movement. The committee, called the Environmental Justice Committee, was created this semester and is working on filling its 15 to 20 positions, committee co-chair Fernando Casal said. Geography senior Casal said he and other environmental studies students recognized the lack of discussions around race, class and gender in their class curriculum. Casal said he decided to form the committee to facilitate discussions around these issues. “These students, like students of color and allies, have been left out of the conversation,” Casal said. “In the committee, they will have a space to talk about these issues in the full range of environmental studies. We are helping address the gaps in our curriculum.” Casal said he would like to work with professors to introduce a more critical perspective in environmental studies and host workshops about social issues and environmentalism. “People say ‘The environment can’t be racist, the science can’t be racist,’” Casal said. “People interact with the
environment, and people can be racist. For example, groups are forced to live in places that are polluted.” Committee co-chair Cerena Ermitanio said in her home country of the Philippines, the intersection of environmentalism and social issues is very prominent. Ermitanio, international relations and global studies junior, works with a human rights group in the Philippines and said the government of the Philippines has directly targeted environmental activists. “It is one of the most resource-rich countries in all of Asia,” Ermitanio said. “The current regime is suppressing all these activists to maintain big agriculture plantations. We don’t talk about these things as often because they affect the most marginalized populations.” Ermitanio said Native American and indigenous communities also face marginalization in the environmental movement. The committee hosted a discussion in the Multicultural Engagement Center called “Sustainability and Me” with the student organization Native American and Indigenous Collective on Wednesday to discuss sustainable indigenous food practices. History associate professor Erika Bsumek, who specializes in land politics, said indigenous communities face far more environmental issues R A C E PAGE 2