our new normal
DT Volume 121, Issue 4 Tuesday, June 30, 2020 destiny alexander / the daily texan staff
Contents: page
DT Senior Videographer Jennifer Xia
Assoc. Managing Editors Brittany Miller, Marcus Krum
Senior Audio Producer Aurora Berry
Internal Relations Director Lauren Girgis
Photo Editor Amna Ijaz
External Relations Director Assoc. Photo Editor Angelica Arinze Jamie Hwang Assoc. Editors Julia Zaksek, Jennifer Beck
Life&Arts Editor Trinady Joslin
Illustration Coordinator Abriella Corker
Assoc. Life&Arts Editor Ariana Arredondo
News Editor Nicole Stuessy
Sr. Life&Arts Reporters
Assoc. News Editors Emily Hernandez, Neelam Bohra
Sports Editor Myah Taylor
Enterprise Reporter Meara Isenberg Copy Desk Chief Jimena Pinzon Associate Copy Desk Chief Irissa Omandam Design Editor Sierra Wiggers Assoc. Design Editor Maria Perez
Aisling Ayers, Grace Barnes
Assoc. Sports Editor Donnavan Smoot, Stephen Wagner Comics Editors Alekka Hernandez, Barbra Daly Assoc. Comics Editor Raquel “Rocky” Higine
page
Beat Reporters Hannah Williford, Anna Canizales, Hannah Ortega, Areeba Amer
page
Managing Editor Sami Sparber
page
Assoc. Multimedia Editor Faith Castle
page
PERMANENT STAFF Editor-in-Chief Emily Caldwell
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spread DACA recipients, undocumented grads face job insecurity amid COVID-19, SCOTUS decision.
News
MANAGING EDITOR Sami Sparber (512) 232-2217 managingeditor@dailytexanonline.com
NEWS OFFICE
Texas 4000 moves annual Alaska bike ride to Facebook live, YouTube during COVID-19 pandemic.
opinion As protests continue across the country, we must regularly discuss Black issues on campus to see real change.
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Life & arts Design students live stream in support of Black Lives Matter, raise over $3,000 total.
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NEWS
News Editor
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NICOLE STUESSY
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020
CORONAVIRUS
UT releases fall 2020 plan Most dorm rooms will be double occupancy as tuition rates remain the same for online, in-person and hybrid classes. By Hannah Ortega & Nicole Stuessy @_hannahortega_
@nicolestuessy
T announced more details of its reopening plan Monday, including online, hybrid and in-person classes, mostly double-occupancy rooms in residence halls and a new app for COVID-19 symptom screening. The details first came in a letter from UT Interim President Jay Hartzell, who said safety is the top priority as the state of the coronavirus pandemic in Texas changes daily. Campus operations
According to the Protect Texas Together website, the University will constantly assess the level of safe operations for in-person classes and other events on campus. Factors that could trigger a campus closure include significant increases in positive COVID-19 cases or an inadequate supply of tests. In May, UT announced the semester will begin Aug. 26 as planned and end the day before Thanksgiving. As announced earlier this month, masks will be mandatory when inside campus buildings and recommended when walking around campus. Masks may be removed when alone in an office or dorm or when eating and drinking. A new app that will help campus community members monitor their temperature and symptoms will be released in August. Students, faculty and staff will be expected to perform daily symptom screening with the app. At a press conference Monday, Soncia Reagins-Lilly, vice president for student
anthony mireles / the daily texan file UT will constantly assess the level of safe operations for classes and campus events, UT Interim President Jay Hartzell said Monday.
affairs and dean of students, said there are protocols in place to receive referrals from students, faculty, staff and other community members about those who are not following safety guidelines. Gatherings and other planned events, such as those for student organizations, “are not generally permitted on campus.” The University said it has no authority to enforce social distancing or mask-wearing for off-campus events. “Part of what we’re doing is trying to instill in our students a sense of doing the right thing even when they’re not in the classroom or in our dorms or residence halls,” Hartzell said at the press conference. “Part of this is an exercise in trust, that we’re trusting that our students will be able to do the right things as we go forward.” Classes
UT will offer online, hybrid and in-person class options at the same
tuition rate. Hartzell said the University did not lower tuition for online classes because they will still be delivered in a high-quality format. “The tuition students pay is just a small fraction of covering the cost of what we do,” Hartzell said. “We have been delivering very high-quality online courses now for quite some time and charging the same tuition rates for those courses as our face-to-face classes.” Students will have the option to choose a fully online semester, “but should make sure to assess how this decision will affect their paths toward graduation,” Hartzell said in the letter. The fall course schedule is updated daily, with changes to instructional mode, time and location for classes. Current students will be able to make changes to their schedule through July 22. As UT announced earlier this month, in-person classes will be spread out from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and assigned specific
classrooms where no more than 40% of the seats in the room will be filled. Housing and dining
Residence halls will open Aug. 20 and most rooms will be double occupancy, with limited availability for single occupancy. Students will be required to sign a COVID-19 amendment as part of their housing contract. Single occupancy rooms will continue to cost more than double occupancy rooms, Reagins-Lilly said at the press conference. In communal residence hall bathrooms, students will arrange scheduled times for using showers and plexiglass will be placed between sinks or wherever it is needed, Reagins-Lilly said. The University is working with private dormitories and other large student-living communities, such as sorority and fraternity houses, to develop their own safety guidelines, Reagins-Lilly said.
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News Editor
NICOLE STUESSY
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020
NEWS
STATE
Early voting begins amid COVID-19 concerns Runoff elections in Texas started Monday following debates over voter safety measures. By Hannah Williford | @HannahWillifor2
arly voting for the July 14 runoff elections in Texas began Monday after months of deliberation over voting safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic. Voters are currently eligible to apply for a mailin ballot if they are 65 or over, have a disability, are out of their district during the election or are confined to jail, according to the Texas Secretary of State website. On June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a ruling that would allow Texas voters unwilling to risk contracting coronavirus to qualify for mail-in ballots, according to reporting by The Texas Tribune. Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said her office will follow the Texas Supreme Court’s May 27 decision that voters may consider their health history when deciding if they qualify for a mail-in ballot. However, the decision also stated that a voter’s lack of immunity to COVID-19 does not qualify them for a mail-in ballot under the disability clause. “Anything about your health history that may mean that, if you show up in person, you’re going to further injure yourself, you get to vote by mail,” DeBeauvoir said. “No questions.”
nicholas vo / the daily texan file Early voting for the runoff elections began yesterday with only those over the age of 65, with a disability, out of their district or currently in jail permitted to mail in their ballots, according to the Texas Secretary of State website.
Vote-by-mail applications must be sent to the clerk’s office by July 2, she said, and so far the office has received 26,000, compared to its usual 2,000. Katya Ehresman, a government and public policy senior, said
she considered applying for a mail-in ballot but decided to vote in person during early voting because of backand-forth court decisions. “After the (Texas) attorney general has threatened prosecution against
county officials and individual voters that file for a mail-in ballot on the grounds of disability only related to COVID, not related to any underlying condition — I don’t want to risk being (prosecuted),
and I don’t think that I want the county officials that are making this leniency to risk it,” Ehresman said. DeBeauvoir said that while polling places will observe social distancing practices, she heavily encourages
citizens to wear masks to the polls if they vote in person. For additional precautionary measures, she said clerks will use finger cots, or small plastic finger coverings, to sign into poll books and have voters use a stick similar to a popsicle stick to make selections on the voting machine. During early voting, DeBeauvoir said plexiglass shields will separate voters. “We’ll let as many voters come inside the air conditioning as we possibly can, but it’s going to be socially distanced, and we know there’s going to be lines of people forming outside,” DeBeauvoir said. “It’s Texas. It’s hot in the sun. Bring an umbrella for shade.” Janae Steggall, president of TX Votes, said her organization has created custom care packages and listed resources to help individual students through the voting process. Steggall said she recommends referencing the League of Women Voters and vote411.com for nonpartisan voting guides. “It’s pretty tragic that students usually don’t turn out to runoff elections, and this is largely due to the fact that you have to vote absentee, there’s more steps involved (and) you have to plan ahead,” said Steggall, an international relations and global studies junior. “This is a critical election for students to participate in.”
NEWS
News Editor
5
NICOLE STUESSY
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020 STUDENT LIFE
Texas 4000 completes annual bike ride virtually
copyright texas 4000, and reproduced with permission Due to COVID-19, Texas 4000 took their annual bike ride from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, to the virtual sphere through live Facebook and YouTube broadcasts.
By Hannah Ortega @_hannahortega_
After completing an 18-month training program, 78 bicyclists with Texas 4000, a UT organization that raises money and awareness for cancer, were supposed to set out on a 4,000-mile-long journey this summer from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska. They planned to ride for 70 days and pass through cities like Colorado Springs, Colo., or Seattle depending on the route. However, the COVID-19 pandemic threw the riders’
plans off course — they could no longer participate in the cross-country ride. But, instead of canceling the event, Scott Crews, Texas 4000 executive director, decided to make the trek virtual. “The decision-making process was really focused on the health and safety of not only our riders, but all of the people that we would come in contact with,” Crews said. “With the outbreak of COVID-19 in the country, our focus was always on, ‘What are we going to be able to do best to protect both parties: the riders and those other folks?’” From May 29 to June
26, the Texas 4000 riders broadcast their cycling from home live on Facebook and YouTube. The broadcasts included ride dedications, which took place before every ride started, an hour of live cycling and cancerrelated presentations. “We always started out with ride dedications, and we actually got to bring those to the community level like they hadn’t been before,” said Ally McConnell, a 2020 UT alumna and Texas 4000 rider. “We would be livestreaming and people could comment, and we could read the ride dedications as they happened, which I thought
was really, really special.” Crews said riders reached a wide audience through the online broadcasts, and that Texas 4000 may continue with similar broadcasts in the future. “I think (what) really struck everyone is just how many more people we’re able to touch in the virtual environment,” Crews said. “We’ve had people from across the world. … It’s been heartening to know, for the riders, how many more people they’ve been able to touch and share our mission and share our pillars of hope, knowledge and charity with.”
Rachel Ogle, a 2020 UT alumna and Texas 4000 rider, was disappointed when she heard the ride would be virtual, but after speaking with hosts and hospitals about the organization’s impact, she said it became a rewarding experience. “I left every one of those calls almost in tears,” Ogle said. “You hear stories (and) that’s why you continue to keep doing it because everybody’s lives have been touched by cancer, and ... to hear their experiences with Texas 4000 … it’s just humbling to realize how big it is beyond us. I’m very grateful to have gotten the
opportunity to do anything because it could have just been canceled.” Crews said during the COVID-19 pandemic, cancer is still affecting many people, and this year’s riders recognized they needed to pedal on. “(The riders) realize they didn’t join this organization just for the ride to Alaska,” Crews said. “They joined it to fight cancer, and that hasn’t stopped. That’s really I think the rallying cry for their team is that people need us and people need to know that there are people still out there fighting for them.”
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Life&Arts Editor
TRINADY JOSLIN
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020
STUDENT LIFE
LIFE&ARTS
‘what am i going to do?’ Amid the coronavirus pandemic, undocumented and DACA graduates face additional challenges entering the job market. By Ariana Arredondo @ArianaxGraciela
Valles recipient,
n May, Juan Valles, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals recipient, walked the virtual stage to receive his degree in biology. said as a DACA he faced financial and
political barriers different to those United States citizens face, and as a result had to work twice as hard to complete his college education. “It’s just such a satisfying feeling knowing my parents and I, we kind of all put our hand into my education,” said Valles, a first-generation college student. “I was able to come out on the other side and it was just a feeling like nothing else.” At around 14 years old, Valles
became a DACA recipient. DACA provides young immigrants like Valles with temporary safety from deportation and authorization to work and must be renewed every two years. It wasn’t until he got older that Valles began to understand what his status meant for him and the financial barriers that came along with it. “My parents kind of hid that from me,” Valles said. “I think they (were) just protecting me so I wouldn’t feel
different from the other kids.” During the summer, Valles had an internship he hoped would turn into a full-time job. Then, the program was canceled due to the pandemic. There are 2.6 million Texans who applied for unemployment relief since mid-March. Because of Valles’ status, he isn’t one of them. Though undocumented people make up 8.2% of the Texas workforce, they aren’t able to apply for unemployment under the Texas Employment Compensation Act. “Not having the benefit of filing for unemployment definitely took a toll for the first, like, month of the pandemic,” Valles said. “And that’s just something not a lot of people had to deal (with). They have the government to kind of fall back on. They have that option there if they need it.”
DACA is not a seat at the table, but it’s kind of like a spot in the room.” NICOLÁS REQUENA TORRE
ut 2020 alumnus
rocky higine / the daily texan staff
On top of that, only U.S. citizens and legal residents were eligible to receive aid from stimulus checks under the coronavirus relief bill. Valles is continuing to fill out job applications while working as a store clerk. Meanwhile, he said the insecurity of his status as a DACA recipient is always in the back of his mind, especially as President Donald Trump’s administration has worked to end the program. On June 18, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Trump’s attempt to end DACA — but the Supreme Court’s ruling doesn’t protect everyone. Recent graduate Jesús, who asked the Texan not to use his last name because he is undocumented, said the possibility he or his family could face deportation is always a worry for him. “Being undocumented and
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thinking about the future was always like, ‘Oh, what am I going to do? Like people have papers and I don’t,’” Jesús said. “Am I gonna get a call, saying someone from my family is going to be deported? It’s always a constant fear.” Jesús arrived in the U.S. after DACA was enacted, meaning he was not eligible to apply and has no legal pathway to citizenship. In order to pay taxes, he and his family use an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number rather than a Social Security number. When Jesús returned to his hometown after campus closed due to COVID-19 concerns, he got a job making ice cream, but was laid off after two weeks because of coronavirus-related restrictions. Now, Jesús is going to pursue his Ph.D. in the fall and said his enrollment has given him a sense of security. “Given my status, I would have a lot of insecurity looking for a job because I don’t have a Social Security number I could work with,” Jesús said. “On the bright side, I am going to (have) secure housing for five years. I’m going to have health care for five years. I’m going to be having basic human rights for my labor.” Like Jesús and Valles, Nicolás Requena Torre, a DACA recipient, is ineligible for unemployment benefits and stimulus checks. At the start of the pandemic, Requena Torre’s parents were hit economically by their lack of access to public assistance. Since then, their financial state has improved. Requena Torre said he had a job at the UT Swim Center, and they continued to pay him after campus closed. He began applying for jobs after graduating, but hasn’t had any luck so far. Aside from his economic situation, he said he continues to worry about the possibility of the government ending the DACA program. “DACA is not a seat at the table, but it’s kind of like a spot in the room,” Requena Torre said. “Many times I think people, especially younger people that are DACA recipients or who have immigrant lineage, feel as though they’re not worth enough or not valued enough.” He said thankfully, he still has one year left to refile for DACA, which costs at least $495 in application fees.
Although COVID-19, the political climate and the uncertain job market all pose concerns for undocumented individuals, Valles said he is still proud he graduated. Now Valles only hopes for a better future for himself and other undocumented people. “Texas is my home,” Valles said. “The United States is my home, but it doesn’t feel like that. I feel like a stranger here, like a stranger in my own home. I’m hopeful that I’m able to have the same things my friends do, just have that sense of stability and that sense of normalcy, so I’m not considered an outsider anymore.”
sierra wiggers / the daily texan staff
copyright juan ojeda, and reproduced with permission Juan Valles poses in front of the Tower in his graduation regalia. Valles received his degree in biology with a minor in business.
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Editor-In-Chief
E M I LY C A L D W E L L
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020 COLUMN
COLUMN
UT must protect students from new Title IX policies
chloe gonzales/ the daily texan staff By Daisy Kielty Columnist
As schools across the nation think about how to return to campus amid a global pandemic, they must now also focus on implementing new rules implemented by the Trump administration. At the beginning of May, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released the final changes to the Title IX policies affecting how school campuses are meant to handle cases of sexual assault and misconduct. These new Title IX changes are only going to hurt victims of sexual assault and misconduct. UT has made progress over the past semester to hold perpetrators accountable and keep students safe. Although schools who fail to implement the new Title IX rules by August 14 risk losing federal funding, it is crucial for UT to continue its progress by standing up against the federal government to ensure all of its students are protected on campus. Title IX prohibits gender discrimination on college campuses and K-12 schools, including sexual harassment, which the Obama administration defined as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.” The definition of sexual harassment has now been narrowed to conduct that “a reasonable person” would think is “so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to an education.” In addition to narrowing the threshold of what constitutes sexual misconduct, the new rules expand protections to those accused of sexual misconduct. Now mimicking a criminal trial, those accused will be presumed innocent, have the right to access all evidence against them and can cross-examine accusers during
live hearings through a representative or lawyer. On the surface, these new rules sound reasonable. However, when put into practice, they can be counterproductive. According to victim advocacy groups such as the National Women’s Law Center, the new rules will only discourage survivors from reporting and make it an even harder process for those who do report. The new regulations are prioritizing predators over victims — further hurting those they claim to protect. Earlier this year, President Gregory Fenves announced three major changes to the school’s sexual misconduct policy: 1. UT will streamline the resources offered to survivors to support them effectively. 2. Any faculty or staff member found to have committed sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking or interpersonal violence will be terminated. 3. If a UT employee is found to have engaged in sexual misconduct but was not terminated due to mitigating factors, the case information will be released to the public while preserving the privacy of the survivors. These changes were seen as progress — protecting survivors and holding predators accountable for their actions. The new Title IX policies threaten this progress. As a result of these changes, the UT System Title IX Working Group is planning how to best implement the regulations across all systems with minimal disruption, J.B. Bird, director of media relations and issues management, said in an email. They will be sharing proposed changes later this summer, Bird said. However, these new changes that defend perpetrators and hurt survivors should not be implemented on campus at all. “UT-Austin strives to protect its students and employees from discrimination based on sex in our educational programs and activities while meeting the Constitutional command that guarantees every member of our campus community receive due process under law,” Bird said. “Every UT community member should be able to learn and work in an environment free from all forms of sexual harassment, sex discrimination, exploitation and intimidation.” The University has a job to protect its students. Although UT may be required to implement the new Title IX rules, it must still stand with survivors and try to eliminate sexual violence on our campus. We must continue to hold UT accountable for its handlings of sexual misconduct and assault. We must continue to stand with survivors. Kielty is a government and sociology junior from Concord, Massachusetts.
LEGALESE | Opinions expressed in The Daily Texan are those of the editor, the Editorial Board or the writer of the article. They are not necessarily those of the UT administration, the Board of Regents or the Texas Student Media Board of Operating Trustees.
OPINION
Let’s talk, Longhorns By Morgan Pace Columnist
On May 25, George Floyd was murdered in broad daylight by a police officer for allegedly resisting arrest. His murder resulted in mass outrage on social media and thousands of protests across the country. However, I couldn’t help but notice the majority of my nonBlack peers choosing to be silent about this national issue. I know my friends aren’t okay with senseless, racially charged murder, so why do they refuse to vocalize their stance at a time like this? I began to reflect on my own experience at UT to find the answer. It’s very difficult to genuinely acknowledge the existence of a problem you have never come into contact with. This is my reality as a Black student at UT. If I enter a classroom of a hundred people, I’m lucky to see four people who look like me. Needless to say, I’m almost guaranteed to be the only Black person in smaller classes, discussion groups or labs. It doesn’t matter where I am on campus — I will be surrounded by people with experiences that I usually can’t relate to, and I will rarely be involved in conversations unrelated to academics. That said, discussions centered around racial issues will seldom come up, especially if students are used to being in classrooms surrounded by people who look like them. Because of the small population of Black students on campus, non-Black individuals lack the ability to confront these difficult issues. They don’t familiarize themselves with the harsh realities their Black peers face daily. To them, it’s a Black issue — one that’s rarely discussed or merged into daily conversations on campus. That’s one of the dangers of a lack of diversity. It weakens your ability to empathize. I asked my good friend, a sophomore at UT who wished to remain anonymous, “Why haven’t you said anything about this pressing national issue?”
SUBMIT A FIRING LINE | Email your Firing Lines to editor@dailytexanonline.com. Letters must be more than 100 and fewer than 300 words. The Texan reserves the right to edit all submissions for brevity, clarity and liability.
helen brown/the daily texan staff
“I don’t feel like I know enough about the situation and don’t want to say anything that might sound ignorant,” they said. Their response made me realize how important it is that these conversations exist on campus. I explained to them that it’s okay to not know exactly what to say. It isn’t okay, however, to say nothing at all because choosing to be silent can be seen as indifference or even a stamp of approval to your Black peers. “In order for change to occur, nonBlack people have to be just as outspoken and outraged as we are,” said Tecora Turner, 2020 public health graduate. Longhorns, not only do we need your help, but we want to hear your voice the most when situations like George Floyd’s arise. You don’t have to be on the front lines of a protest, but learning and actively listening to the experiences of your Black peers starts on campus. It’s this small change in behavior that truly makes a difference. It’s what makes you an ally. Small-scale action leads to widespread results. It’s often said that what starts here changes the world, and we have the opportunity to stand by that statement. Let’s do our part on campus and be open to uncomfortable conversations. How about simply asking someone in your social circle how they feel about what’s going on? It’s never too late to be an ally. All the small conversations around campus will add up, and eventually, they’ll make their way into the future workplaces, homes and lives of Longhorns. Pace is a government freshman from Duncanville, Texas.
RECYCLE | Please recycle this copy of The Daily Texan. Place the paper in one of the recycling bins on campus or back in the burnt-orange newsstand where you found it. EDITORIAL TWITTER | Follow The Daily Texan Editorial Board on Twitter (@TexanOpinion) and receive updates on our latest editorials and columns.
LIFE&ARTS
Life&Arts Editor
9
TRINADY JOSLIN
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020 BLM
Students host livestream to support BLM By Jenny Errico @errico_jenny
In the spring, Joseph Horak’s design class started the same way every day. His professor, Honoria Starbuck, would greet them by saying, “Good morning, fellow creatives.” Horak, an arts and entertainment technologies sophomore, said he drew inspiration from the phrase to create a platform for change. Fellow Creatives was founded by Horak and now includes 15 other arts and entertainment technologies students. The group coordinated and broadcasted their first live telethon on June 7 to raise money for Black Visions Collective, a nonprofit in Minnesota promoting Black freedom from oppression. Horak said Fellow Creatives’s goal with the broa cast is to support the Black Lives Matter movement. “I think a lot of people are feeling really helpless right now because it’s hard to make a difference,” Horak said. “I think everyone’s just trying to find out how they can do their part.” The broadcast lasted 12 hours, from 12 p.m. to 12 a.m. Horak said Fellow Creatives raised $2,600, surpassing their original goal of $100 by a wide margin. “We wanted an achievable goal so we didn’t set the bar too high, but we ended up raising $100 in the first 20 minutes which blew our minds,” Horak said. Throughout the broadcast, Horak said 71 people donated and viewership fluctuated between 20 to 60 people at any given time. The broadcast was streamed through Twitch and included 10 different art and video game segments, said Connor Blankenship, an arts and entertainment technologies sophomore. “(Joseph’s) idea gave us a reason to stream,” said Alyssa Diaz, arts and entertainment technologies sophomore. “Yes, (the stream) is for fun, but it’s also to help a good
copyright ethan godwin, and reproduced with permission Fellow Creatives group members play “Animal Crossing” on Twitch on June 7 to raise money for Black Visions Collective.
cause and do something bigger than ourselves.” Each video game segment included six Fellow Creative participants playing and commentating during games such as “Mario Kart,” “Animal Crossing” and “Terraria.” The two kinds of art segments were called “Drawpile,” where the group took viewer suggestions and doodled together, and “Commissions,” where top donors made personal art requests. Diaz said one donor requested characters from the Nintendo game “Fire Emblem,” saying “end racism.” “We wanted to make sure we included both video games and art in the broadcast because they’re both part of what we do as a major,” Diaz said. Horak said besides a few minor technical issues at the beginning of
the broadcast, such as linking the games to the livestreaming feed, it ran smoothly overall. “We really want to build up a fan base,” Blankenship said. “We want our viewers to give us constructive criticism about what segments they like and don’t like so we can provide the best viewership experience for them.” Horak and Blankenship said they plan to continue their telethons on a biweekly basis and donate to charities that support the Black Lives Matter movement. On June 28, Fellow Creatives streamed a second telethon and raised $1,144. All donations will go to the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, a
nonprofit in California focusing on Black transgender rights. “When you share (posts) on your Instagram story or talk to family members, those are good things, but I think it’s important to take it one step further,” Blankenship said. “We can always be doing more.”
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Sports Editor M Y A H
TAY L O R
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020
SPORTS
BLM
Fighting for a seat at the table Years of subpar Black representation persists throughout NCAA Division I coaching ranks. By Stephen Wagner @stephenwag22
lack student-athletes comprise a majority of Division I football and basketball players, but a discrepancy between the number of white and Black head coaches still exists throughout the college ranks. Of the 130 schools in the Football Bowl Subdivision, college football’s highest level of competition, only 13 have a Black head football coach, according to the Chicago Tribune. Two Power Five conferences were without a Black head basketball coach at the end of the 2019 season, and head baseball coaches of color are rare outside of historically Black colleges or universities. Texas has had just six Black head coaches across 16 school-sanctioned sports in its 127 years in intercollegiate athletics. Rodney Page became UT’s first Black coach of any sport in 1973 when Texas hired him to coach the women’s basketball team for its inaugural season. During his three seasons at UT, Page only recalled coaching against other Black coaches when the Longhorns played historically Black colleges and universities. “When you get into the same level of schools that were in the Southwest Conference, there weren’t any (Black coaches),” Page said. “If you look, you would not find many at a predominantly white institution, a white DI school.” The scarcity of Black head coaches at the Division I level remains prominent over 40 years later due to unconscious biases and a double standard for Black coaches, said Louis Harrison, a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at UT. White athletic directors often
All these Black football players, and you’re telling me none, or very few, grow up to be qualified coaches? If the sport is a majority Black, (how are) the people that teach the sport a majority white?” CAMERON TOWNSEND
former texas linebacker maria perez / the daily texan staff hire candidates they’re comfortable with — usually other white males — and hold Black coaches to a higher standard, Harrison said. “Typically, when AD’s look at Black coaches, the Black coach has to be superior,” Harrison said. “They have to have more qualifications than a white coach that they would look at for a similar position.” Texas fired Charlie Strong, UT’s first and only Black head football coach, after he failed to deliver a winning season during his tenure from 2014-2016. Some athletes worry Strong’s shortcomings may discourage the University from hiring Black head coaches in the future. “I do fear that, the way things went with Coach Strong, it would deter UT from hiring another Black football coach,” said Cameron Townsend, a former Texas linebacker who played under Strong in 2016. “It’s kind
of like they did it one time just so they can say they did it. Now it’s like, ‘We tried that before, and it didn’t work.’” Limited opportunities for Black people to coach DI football doesn’t make sense in a sport with predominantly Black athletes, Townsend said. “All these Black football players, and you’re telling me none, or very few, grow up to be qualified coaches?” Townsend said. “If the sport is a majority Black, (how are) the people that teach the sport a majority white?” UT and other DI schools have made recent strides toward diversity among head coaches. Texas hired or promoted four Black head coaches in the 2010s, a stark contrast to the University that Page said held the reputation of “an orange and white plantation” in the Black community when UT first hired him.
sam ortega / the daily texan file Charlie Strong was UT’s first and only Black head football coach during his tenure from 2014-2016.
But Page said Texas isn’t where it needs to be yet. “We’re at a moment in American history where what’s coming up is that Black (people) have not received the opportunities
that perhaps should have been and should be afforded to them,” Page said. “Although we have made progress, it still can be a battle and a struggle to have an equal and a level playing field.”
COMICS
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B A R B D A LY & A L E K K A H E R N A N D E Z
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020
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Sports Editor M Y A H
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TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2020
SPORTS
FOOTBALL
Longhorns maintain value, Texas-sized brand By Myah Taylor @t_myah
Although Texas football won its last national championship 15 years ago and hasn’t contended for a title since 2009, the Longhorn brand still reigns. Texas posted just one 10-win season in the last decade, unlike juggernauts Alabama, Clemson and rival Oklahoma. Still, the Longhorns, valued at a nation-high $1.1 billion in 2018, are among college football’s top earners, according to an annual study by Ryan Brewer, an associate professor of finance at Indiana University-Purdue University Columbus. UT football’s decline in the 2010s doesn’t erase its historic success or Texas’ dominance in other sports and areas, said 2008 alumnus Kyle Umlang, who shares Longhorn sports data with his 10.6 thousand Twitter followers. “It’s only been mediocrity for the last decade, but we’ve been playing football for 125 years, and the majority of that we’ve dominated,” Umlang said. “But we’re not just a football school; I like to call us an everything school.” A distinct, recognizable logo and the imagery it evokes factors into Texas’ cultural relevance and market value, said Wayne Hoyer, a professor of marketing at the McCombs School of Business. “The (Longhorn is) considered one of the coolest logos.” Hoyer said. “There’s the whole cowboy image … and people are fascinated by that … It’s a basic principle of marketing to have a strong logo. The Apple is a strong logo, the Nike swoosh. We have the Longhorn.” The Longhorn Network arrived in August 2011, a year after Texas football finished a 5–7 season. Last November, “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon said he chose UT as the first university where he’d film a special taping after he watched Texas’ high-energy ESPN College GameDay appearance. While Umlang pointed to the network of Longhorn fans across the world to justify UT’s influence, including alumnus Matthew McConaughey, he said Texas’ brand
power also lies with its unique mascot. “You look at all the Division I, II and III schools, (and) there’s 29 different Tiger teams, 25 different Bulldog teams,” Umlang said. “There is one Longhorn.” Eleven different fan bases identified Texas as a rival, according to a recent study by Cody Havard, an associate professor of sports commerce at the University of Memphis. Texas’ blue blood pedigree still holds strong for opponents despite the Longhorns’ recent shortcomings, Umlang said. “It’s kind of like the Yankees. Even if the Yankees suck, it’s a big deal to whoop ‘em,” Umlang said. “The Texas brand is so giant that … you could be watching Texas Tech against Baylor and if there’s a crowd shot, someone will do the ‘Horns Down’ at the camera.” The Texas creative team takes
advantage of the brand on social media, furthering it in the process, said Caten Hyde, Texas’ associate athletics director for creative development. “We’ve got one of the most recognizable logos in sports so our mentality is to use it,” Hyde said in an email. “Burnt orange is obviously unique to Texas. We want people to catch a glimpse of a graphic or another visual and immediately think of the Texas Longhorns.” The Longhorns haven’t returned to their former glory just yet and COVID-19 may threaten the upcoming football season, but Umlang said the Texas brand is here to stay. “It’s a very powerful brand,” Umlang said. “I think it will be forever.”
But we’re not just a football school; I like to call us an everything school.” KYLE UMLANG
alumnus
joshua guenther / the daily texan file A Texas cheerleader waves a flag with the iconic Longhorn logo during the Longhorns’ 45-14 win against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31, 2019. Despite just one 10-win season in the last decade, Texas football is still valued at $1.1 billion.