The Daily Texan 2020-07-14

International students face visa uncertainty

DT Volume 121, Issue 6 Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Also inside: ut to rename rlm, keep ‘the eyes of texas’ P5 jeb miller / the daily texan file

Managing Editor Sami Sparber

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News UT will rename Robert Lee Moore Hall and acknowledge history of “The Eyes of Texas.”

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NEWS OFFICE

Amid recent demonstrations, former Texan staffers reflect on covering Vietnam War protests in the 1970s.

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opinion UT must consider offering reduced tuition rates this fall for undergraduate students.

Life & arts Custodians working on campus this summer share COVID-19 related safety concerns.

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NEWS

News Editor

3

NICOLE STUESSY

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020

CORONAVIRUS

‘Where am I supposed to go?’

New visa policy creates uncertainty for international students as classes move online.

By Andrew Zhang @andrewczhang

hen Milia Daher, a human dimensions of organization senior from Bolivia, first heard that taking online classes would jeopardize her visa status and force her to leave the country, she became filled with fear.

The COVID-19 pandemic has closed the Bolivian borders. No airlines are flying to her home. If forced to leave the U.S., she wonders, “Where am I supposed to go?”

Daher is one of 4,100 international students on F-1 visas at UT affected by new guidelines U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released July 6 in response to the pandemic.

Students on F-1 visas must take at least one in-person or hybrid class to stay in the U.S. If students take all classes online, they must leave the U.S. or transfer to a school with in-person classes.

The University will remain a “hybrid mode” campus during the fall semester to comply with the new rules, Interim Provost Daniel Jaffe said Sunday in a campuswide email.

To better accommodate international students, Jaffe said the University will move additional courses to hybrid delivery July 16-22, and then extend registration to be open July 23-31.

University spokesperson J.B. Bird said UT cannot move fully online because some parts of the University, such as clinical programs at Dell Medical School, have to remain in-person. He said most classes could move online in the fall if public health conditions worsen.

Daher said she has registered for courses that allow her to stay in the U.S. However, after seeing schools such as Harvard and MIT challenge the guidance, she said she found UT’s response disappointing.

megan fletcher / the daily texan staff “The ICE decision was cruel,” Daher said. “They put us in this position where if you want to stay, you have to risk your health and other people too. It was really sad to me to see that (the University) just complied (with the new rules) … it doesn’t make me feel safe.”

Kathleen Harrison, communications manager for the Office of Executive Vice President and Provost, said the University will send students updated I-20 forms verifying their eligibility to stay in the U.S. under the new rules by Aug. 4.

Planet Longhorn, the University’s largest international student organization, started a

petition Wednesday asking the University to prioritize international students for in-person and hybrid courses.

Planet Longhorn president Edson Santos, an economics and civil engineering junior from Angola, said he has struggled to find in-person classes his degree plan requires, and travel restrictions prevent him from returning home. He said international students are depending on the University to help them.

UT Student Government, UT Senate of College Councils, the Graduate Student Assembly and Planet Longhorn released a joint statement Monday asking the

University to help international students by providing immigration legal support, extending financial aid, reducing tuition and dissuading the UT Police Department and the Austin Police Department from working with ICE. In response to pushback over the University response, Bird said UT is taking other steps to support its 5,600 international students.

“We are reaching out to all of our students with F-1 visas to help them navigate this new landscape, working with colleges and schools to make sure they have sufficient hybrid course offerings and making sure our international students

have the opportunity to take the kinds of courses they need to remain in the country,” Bird said in an email.

Sociology doctorate student Chen Liang is currently in her home country of Taiwan. Liang said the new ICE guidelines will likely make her travel back to Austin, but she is concerned because cases are spiking.

“I don’t want to return to the U.S.,” Liang said. “I feel I was lucky enough to escape the severe situation in Texas. … Nobody knows what will happen in the next two months.”

4

News Editor

NICOLE STUESSY

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 CAMPUS

NEWS

Students navigate fall housing in dorms, apartments

By Amanda Figueroa-Nieves @amandafn02

Some students are still deciding whether to live in on-campus residence halls as the University plans to have in-person classes during the fall semester while COVID-19 cases continue to increase in Texas.

Over 1,500 students canceled their on-campus housing contracts as of July 12, leaving 5,858 with contracts, said Aaron Voyles, director for Residence Hall Operations. In fall of 2019, 7,022 students had housing contracts and only 671 students canceled, Voyles said.

Voyles said UT removed the fee for canceling housing contracts, but is not offering more single-occupancy rooms than before the pandemic. He said University Housing and Dining considered general student well-being when deciding to keep double-occupancy rooms.

“If you go to single occupancy, you have fewer spaces on campus as well and students shipped off campus,” Voyles said. “They may be pushed into more dense areas with multiple roommates. There may be transportation issues that they have to manage, higher student costs to pay for singles off campus.”

Single rooms with private bathrooms offer the best protection from COVID-19 spread, according to guidance for living on campus on the Protect Texas Together website. Biology junior Kylie Benavides said she does not want to live in

a double-occupancy room as her two autoimmune diseases put her at high risk for severe complications due to COVID-19.

“I lived in a dorm last year in Kinsolving,” Benavides said. “It was so small.

If your roommate gets coronavirus, there’s a very high chance that you’re going to get it too, from living in such a close space.”

Voyles said UHD plans to block off certain rooms, decrease furniture in lounges, add barriers between sinks in community bathrooms and prohibit guests as extra precautions.

Voyles said students who need any medical accommodations would need to coordinate with Services for Students with Disabilities.

Benavides said she requested a single-occupancy room through SSD, but is also looking for an off-campus apartment. She said she is worried she will not complete the process before she has to move.

Sara Kennedy, manager of strategic and executive communications for the Office of the Dean of Students, said the Student Conduct and Academic Integrity team is launching a new referral form specifically for health and safety rules.

Voyles said students will be asked to sign an amendment to UHD terms and conditions agreeing to health and safety expectations.

Kennedy said any student who does not follow health and safety rules around COVID-19 will be issued one written warning, which will stay on their file and appear to professional

marissa xiong / the daily texan staff and graduate schools.

“Students refusing to adhere to rules will most likely be suspended from UT,” Kennedy said.

Spandana Kamepalli, incoming business honors and finance freshman, said she will live in

If your roommate gets coronavirus, there’s a very high chance that you’re going to get it too, from living in such a close space.”

KYLIE BENAVIDES

biology junior

Jester West Residence Hall and hopes other residents take social distancing seriously.

“I’m going (to live on-campus) because I feel like I might miss out on stuff if I don’t,” Kamepalli said. “Once we’re moved

in, I want (others) to not hang out with huge groups and wear a mask when they go out, just take precautions like everyone does when they’re at home and not be tempted to change how they’re quarantining because they’re in a dorm.”

NEWS

News Editor

5

NICOLE STUESSY

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020 UNIVERSITY

UT to rename RLM, allocate funds to support Black students

By Anna Canizales @annaleonorc

The University will rename the Robert Lee Moore Hall as the Physics, Math and Astronomy Building and acknowledge the origins of “The Eyes of Texas” while continuing to sing it as a University tradition, according to a letter to the community Monday from Interim President Jay Hartzell.

The changes come after Hartzell said he spoke with “scores” of students about how the University can promote inclusion and support Black students.

“I went into (these conversations) understanding that UT has worked hard in recent decades to become a more diverse and welcoming campus,” Hartzell said. “I came out of them realizing there is still more work to do — and that this work starts and ends by creating an environment in which students, faculty and staff are fully supported before, during and after their time at UT.” Hartzell said in the message that one set of plans aims to recruit, attract, retain and support a diverse community.

The University will allocate a multimillion-dollar investment from Athletics to programs that work to recruit and support Black students. The University will expand outreach in cities around Texas, focus on recruiting outstanding high school students from underrepresented groups and allocate additional resources to programs that provide opportunities for Black students. The number of Black undergraduate students has increased by almost 9% in past years, but Black students still comprise only 5.1% of the student body, according to Hartzell.

In the last five years, more than 1,900 Black students who were automatically accepted to the University chose to go elsewhere, and many of them do not believe UT’s campus would be a welcoming home

to them, Hartzell said.

Hartzell said the University will also launch an effort to improve students’ positions for postgraduation success, continue an initiative focused on recruiting and retaining world-class faculty members who bring more diversity to research and teaching, refocus the 2017 University Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, and expand the UT Austin Police Oversight Committee.

Hartzell outlined a second set of actions addressing symbols on campus that have been brought up in recent discussions about acknowledging racist history.

In addition to renaming the Robert Lee Moore Hall and acknowledging the origins of “The Eyes of Texas,” the University will create the Heman M. Sweatt Entrance to T.S. Painter Hall as the main entrance. Painter Hall will be redesigned to include an exhibit and gathering place telling the story of the 1950 U.S. Supreme Court case of Sweatt v.

Painter. The University resisted integration under Painter’s presidency, and the Supreme Court case that Sweatt won allowed him and other Black students to attend the University.

The University plans to honor the Precursors, the first Black undergraduates to attend the University, by commissioning a monument on the East Mall as a part of a larger space dedicated to students and faculty who worked to make the University more inclusive.

Hartzell said the University will educate the community and visitors about the history of names remaining on campus, such as Littlefield, Hogg and Belo, through the form of plaques and a website.

The University will also erect a statue for Julius Whittier, UT’s first Black football letterman, at the Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium and rename Joe Jamail Field for Heisman Trophy winners Earl Campbell and

eddie gaspar / the daily texan file Texas football players join the crowd at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in singing the controversial “The Eyes of Texas” following a 45-38 loss to the LSU Tigers on Sept. 7, 2019.

Student-athletes recently called on the University to make changes to make campus more inclusive and address its racist history.

Ricky Williams at the suggestion of the Jamail family.

Hartzell said these actions represent the continued evolution of the University, and he will continue to share details for the plans as they are developed.

The letter was co-signed by Interim Executive Vice President and Provost

Daniel Jaffe, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Darrell Bazzell, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Soncia Reagins-Lilly, Vice President for Diversity and Community Engagement Leonard Moore and Vice President and Athletics Director Chris Del Conte.

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6

Life&Arts Editor

TRINADY JOSLIN

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020

BLM

LIFE&ARTS

reflections of the past Former Texan staffers look back on reporting during the Vietnam War protests.

By Aisling Ayers @aisling_ayers

n May 8, 1970, thousands of student protesters marched along Guadalupe Street toward the Texas State Capitol.

Alongside them, reporters from The Daily Texan were identified by white bands around their sleeves as the journalists and protesters alike carried bags of wet washcloths to protect their faces from tear gas.

“Here we are going to college,” John Reetz, the Texan’s 1971

managing editor, said.

“One evening we’re putting out copies of the paper, and on the other side of the room (our reporters are) ripping sheets into little bitty armbands, writing ‘Press’ on them and getting ready to go out.”

Fifty years later, protests against police brutality have erupted across every state in the United States in response to the police killings of George Floyd and other Black Americans.

Although the movement’s purpose is different, Austin’s streets once again serve as the backdrop for protestors calling for change.

Journalists still report on protests today, but 60 Minutes’ “60 in 6” correspondent Wesley

sierra wiggers / the daily texan staff Lowery said they face a different set of ethical questions than they did 50 years ago, questions recently brought

We were all new to college, new to Austin, new to protests, new to people being killed.”

JOHN REETZ

1971 managing editor

to the surface by the national protests against racial injustice.

“Everything moves more quickly,” Lowery said. “It’s not that there were never photos or interviews of protesters, but it’s that 45 seconds after I’ve taken a photo of someone, the entire world can be seeing it. … By the time they get home, their entire life could be upended.”

In the late 60s and early 70s, long before the days of instant Internet access, anti-war and civil rights protests frequented campus grounds. The anti-war movement, in particular, motivated thousands of students to march for the

Vietnam War’s end, pushing back against UT’s controversial regulation of demonstrations.

After 13 unarmed Kent State students were injured and four were fatally shot while protesting the U.S. bombing of Cambodia, Reetz said UT students held a candlelight vigil on the Main Mall to honor the students’ deaths. Four days later, on May 8, 1970, an estimated 20,000 demonstrators made up of largely UT students peacefully marched under threat of the National Guard to protest the tragedy.

For The Daily Texan staffers, covering the campus protests against the Vietnam War meant

7

copyright john reetz, and reproduced with permission John Reetz, The Daily Texan’s 1971 managing editor, sits at his desk in UT’s journalism building, which at the time was at the corner of Whitis Avenue and 24th Street.

an endless string of long nights in the newsroom.

Waiting for reporters and photographers to return from covering the protests, Cyndi Krier, former reporter and 1971 alumna, said the paper was regularly sent to print hours after the typical 12:20 a.m. deadline. As the sun rose the next morning, staffers gathered around the printing press to grab a first edition.

To attend protests, students often missed class. O’Lene Stone, former news editor and 1972 alum, said some faculty voluntarily canceled class and most campus academic buildings stood empty.

“I can remember being out on the Main Mall with thousands of students,” Stone said. “We had armed police on top of the buildings along the route to make sure things remained calm. You could hardly walk at times.”

As a reporter, Krier said she joined crowds of protesters to interview students.

“It was almost like a UT football

game,” Krier said. “The noise you would feel in the football stadium when people were stamping their feet on the aluminum benches, where you could almost feel the crowd move.”

Reetz, president of alumni organization Friends of The Texan, said although most movements were largely peaceful, some were particularly violent. He said police sometimes used clubs and fired tear gas, most often when students were chased from Capitol grounds after refusing to disperse.

When protests turn violent, journalists today often turn to police accounts for objective truth, said Lowery, who covered the Minneapolis protests. This common practice has raised ethical questions about who controls the narrative of protests.

“Very often, the police play some type of role in (protest) violence,” Lowery said. “And then we turn to the police and have them write the lede of the story. If someone says something behind a microphone, suddenly it must be true. And we know that’s not actually how the world works.”

The Texan’s anti-war protest coverage circulated widely among the student body, but Krier said not everyone approved. The UT System Board of Regents, specifically board chairman Frank Erwin, condemned many opinion stories from the Texan

that criticized national policies and the student-led protests themselves.

“I am disturbed because a bunch of dirty nothings can disrupt the workings of a great university in the name of academic freedom,” Erwin said when war protesters interrupted a 1968 event with President Johnson at Gregory Gym. As one of the only publications readily accessible to students, the Texan was an outlet for controversial dialogue, student speech and a space for national news alongside local events.

“People would turn to the Texan, and that always made me feel good, and even as a fairly young person (it) reinforced my decision that I wanted to be not only a journalist but a newspaper reporter,” Stone said.

After the paper went to print each night, the Texan staff would often gather at someone’s apartment for drinks until dawn the next day. It was only then when the somberness of the day’s events became evident in his reporters, Reetz said.

“We were all new to college, new to Austin, new to protests, new to people being killed,” Reetz said. “The emotion of it was certainly there after the paper was out. Everyone felt a sense of being invested in an institution like the Texan that’s been around for so long that they wanted to do the right thing.”

copyright john reetz, and reproduced with permission In the spring of 1971, an anti-war protester is restrained by a police officer in a smaller protest in downtown Austin that invoked significant police attention.

8

Editor-In-Chief

E M I LY C A L D W E L L

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020

EDITORIAL

OPINION

abriella corker / the daily texan

Consider reducing fall tuition

B y T h e D a i l y Te x a n E d i t o r i a l B o a rd

In-state undergraduates will pay, on average, $5,583 in tuition per semester this year. Out-of-state undergraduates will pay approximately $20,761 per semester. For the 2020-2021 academic school year, these tuition rates represent a 2.6% increase. While UT-Austin will offer three different modes of classes this year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic — online, hybrid and in-person — tuition remains the same for all three modes, at the same rate that was set by the UT System Board of Regents in November 2019.

However, after looking into what our tuition actually pays for at UT, we determined a significant portion of our tuition funds University operations, maintenance and services.

With the majority of students potentially living and learning off campus for the duration of the fall semester and many students facing serious economic repercussions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we encourage UT to consider reducing tuition rates this fall.

To be clear, there is no specific breakdown of where undergraduate tuition goes because 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.

tuition is simply funneled into the University’s overall budget, University spokesperson J.B. Bird said.

22% of UT’s roughly $3 billion annual budget comes from tuition payments.

13% of this budget is devoted to “University Operating Expenses,” which is mainly maintenance of buildings and facilities both on campus and at off-campus centers, such as the J.J. Pickle Research Campus or the McDonald Observatory.

Even though we don’t have the math in front of us, we feel it’s safe to say students will pay for things they won’t necessarily have access to this fall. Classrooms across campus will be limited to 40% capacity, and we can expect student spaces such as the William C. Powers, Jr. Student Activity Center to limit capacity as well.

Mathematics junior Sebastian Castellanos said UT should lower tuition rates because students will likely have limited or adjusted access to many spaces and resources, such as academic buildings, gyms and the Counseling and Mental Health Center.

“This is what tuition covers, and we’re not getting all of this access,” Castellanos said. “Tuition should reflect what we’re allowed to receive.”

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.

Bird and University spokesperson Joey Williams said a portion of tuition is set aside to bolster financial aid for lower-income students. However, the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid bases a student’s financial aid package on the information they submit through their FAFSA or TAFSA, and for the 2020-2021 school year, students could have submitted their FAFSA as early as Oct. 1, 2019 — before any of us even knew what COVID-19 was. Many students could be attempting to pay for living expenses and a full tuition bill without sufficient financial support from UT. “So many students are coming back to campus in a completely different financial situation than when they started college,” public health junior Nabeeha Engineer said.

In the last four months, millions of Americans have lost their jobs or experienced wage reductions.

“I don’t think UT is considering the sustained costs that students are having to pay,” Castellanos said. “Me and my family still have to pay (my) rent out of pocket. We’re losing money because my family is unemployed (due to the pandemic).”

This summer, UT offered “a 50% tuition reduction for undergraduate Texas residents and a 25% tuition reduction 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.

for undergraduate non-residents,” with the reduction coming off of the fall and spring tuition rates for the 2019-2020 academic year. Many students took advantage of this opportunity and enrolled in summer classes.

While the economics are different this fall, as Williams and Bird said, UT can continue to offer reduced tuition rates while maintaining its high academic standards.

“We recognize that the teaching and learning is going to look really different this year,” Bird said. “The faculty and leadership at the University are working really hard to give the same high-quality education that our students deserve.”

No one knows what’s going to happen this fall, but Texas’ current coronavirus numbers aren’t indicating things will get better soon.

While student safety will remain a pressing concern, UT can help mitigate the financial strain students and their families face by offering reduced tuition rates. Tuition payments are due for continuing students on Aug. 14 and for new students on Aug. 25 — UT still has time to make this decision.

The University is losing money, but we think it can afford to. Its first priority should always be the well-being of its students.

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, JULY 14, 2020 CORONAVIRUS

Custodial staff worries about on-campus safety

By Aisling Ayers @aisling_ayers

As soon as she arrives for work, Sarah, a UT custodian, freezes.

She said she’s afraid to touch the surfaces she has to clean, unsure of who cleaned it before her and whether they had COVID-19.

When campus closed on March 13, faculty members began to work from home while custodial service employees, considered essential personnel, stayed.

A little over two months later, 10 custodians tested positive for COVID-19. On July 7, Interim President Jay Hartzell announced a custodian died from complications related to the virus.

“The death of one of our custodians this week is devastating,” University spokesperson J.B. Bird said in an email. “Coming at a time when the virus remains very active in Travis County, this tragic loss underscores the vigilance required of all of us to promote safety measures, follow them closely and work to protect Texas together.”

Custodians are cleaning facilities daily to ensure a safe environment for students, faculty and staff, Building Services Supervisor Richard Charbel said.

After working as a custodian for four years, Sarah, who asked to remain anonymous to protect her employment, said though she doesn’t want to quit, she now worries about contracting the virus from her co-workers.

Sarah said she’s seen symptomatic co-workers continue to work, fearing taking time off without a confirmed diagnosis will result in losing pay. All UT employees are eligible for up to two weeks of paid sick leave “if they are unable to work their scheduled weekly hours either on campus or remotely because they have to self-isolate or self-quarantine,” Veronica Trevino, media manager

of Financial and Administrative Services, said in an email.

On April 30, UT shared a work guidance document listing safety procedures for essential campus personnel. Among other regulations, it requires co-workers to maintain a distance of at least 6 feet.

Over the past three months, Sarah said she and her co-workers have cleaned the same spaces in empty academic buildings every day, which takes up only a quarter of their eight-hour shifts.

“It’s so clean, you have people walking around and doing extra stuff like cleaning windows,” Sarah said. “We’re just coming in and going right back over what we did. We’re only putting ourselves at risk.”

Sarah said employees often group together at work to discuss the emails they receive about the situation.

“We all talk about this,” Sarah said. “That’s what brings us together when we’re not supposed to be together at work.”

Betty Tuch is a building attendant at the Health Transformation Building. Unlike other academic buildings, Tuch said it remains active with employees.

During her shift, Tuch said crying co-workers sometimes approach her and express their fears about contracting the virus. After working in health care facilities during outbreaks of MRSA and the swine flu, Tuch said she’s used to working in high-risk environments.

“I’ll pull my mask down and smile real quick and then put my mask up and tell them, ‘It’s going to be dangerous whether you’re out there or in here,’” Tuch said. “‘But at least in here, you know that you’re going to be safe with the cleaning, and you have a job.’”

Charbel said when scared employees approach him, he refers them to the Occupational Health Program for medical concerns or

destiny alexander / the daily texan staff the Employee Assistance Program for emotional needs.

Some custodial service employees are looking forward to students’ fall return, Charbel said.

Following the recent death, Sarah said she worries the risk is still too high.

“I love my job, but my job does not love me back,” Sarah said.

“I’m scared to death. What has to happen in order for (them) to say, ‘We’re worried about y’all’s welfare?’”

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Sports Editor M Y A H

TAY L O R

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020

SPORTS

BASKETBALL

Former teammates reunite

Former Mississippi State teammates take on the coaching game together at Texas.

By Nathan Han @NathanHan13

ormer Mississippi State women’s basketball forward Ketara Chapel didn’t know she’d become close friends and teammates with her high school basketball rival, Blair Schaefer.

“Hate is a strong word,” Chapel said. “I’d say our team disliked Blair just because she was so good … It wasn’t even her team; it was just Blair.”

A few years and a few Final Four appearances later, Chapel can also add fellow coach to that list. Both Chapel and Blair now serve on Vic Schaefer’s coaching staff at Texas, along with former Mississippi State guards Dominique Dillingham and Jazzmun Holmes.

The four former teammates helped pull off a historic upset in 2017 against a UConn team with a 111-game winning streak. Dillingham and Chapel passed along a winning tradition to Mississippi State as a part of the winningest class in program history and hope to bring similar success to Austin.

The teammates’ time together goes back all the way to high school rivalries and AAU ball when Blair, Texas’ director of player development, and Dillingham, Texas’ video coordinator, were teammates.

“When Coach Schaefer started recruiting Ketara, it was kind of awkward for me because we used to go at it on the court,” Blair said. “Our teams were huge rivals and enemies … but when you put both of us on a team, we played so well together.”

Chapel knew she wanted to go into coaching from an early age, but it wasn’t the same experience for Blair or Dillingham.

“I had a couple of injuries, and I love basketball,” Dillingham said. “I’ve played basketball my entire life. So it was something I wanted to continue, and I knew I could do that through coaching.”

Dillingham became the first of the four to join Vic’s coaching staff at Mississippi State

when she became a graduate assistant during the 2017-2018 season, before becoming a video coordinator the past two years. For Blair, her route to coaching was less direct.

“I went into TV and was an SEC analyst for ESPN for a year,” Blair said. “I thought that’s what I wanted to do, and I put my heart and soul into that. So when that didn’t work out, I realized I do want to coach because I want that reassurance that I’m impacting other people.”

However, it didn’t take long for Blair, Dillingham and Chapel to jump in and embrace their roles.

“I’d always thought of Blair as a teammate and player,” Chapel said. “But the first time I saw her on a sideline coaching, I was like, ‘Oh, she’s a coach for sure.’ It just felt like she was born to be a coach.”

Their experience playing for Vic, known for his tough practices and his aggressive coaching scheme, helps them relate to the current players, Dillingham said.

“We’ve been through the wars,” Dillingham said. “We know what to expect from Coach (Schaefer), we’ve been through his practices. So when someone’s having a bad day … we can push them.”

One player Dillingham and the others pushed was Holmes, who finished her last season as a guard at Mississippi State in the

copyright kelly donoho, and reproduced with permission Former Mississippi State guards Blair Schaefer (left) and Dominique Dillingham’s (right) friendship dates back to their time as AAU teammates.

2018-2019 season and will make her own leap from player to coach when she joins the rest of her former teammates in Austin as a graduate assistant.

“It’s been a blessing to be able to learn from our coaches and then be able to be on staff with them and also be able to learn with Ketara, Blair and now Jazz,” Dillingham said. “Just being able to keep those relationships is amazing. Lots of staffs have high turnover rates, so just being able to stay together has been awesome.”

Our teams were huge rivals and enemies ... but when you put both of us on a team, we played so well together.”

BLAIR SCHAEFER

guard

copyright kelly donoho, and reproduced with permission Former Mississippi State guard Jazzmun Holmes and forward Ketara Chapel high-five on the court.

COMICS

Comics Editors

B A R B D A LY & A L E K K A H E R N A N D E Z

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020

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12

Sports Editor M Y A H

TAY L O R

TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2020

SPORTS

NCAA

Name, image and likeness: What will new NCAA rules look like?

By Myah Taylor @t_myah

College athletes have long gone without pay for their talents, but new NCAA rules will give student-athletes opportunities to profit from their names, images and likenesses.

Name, image and likeness comprise an individual’s “right of publicity,” which allows control over the commercial use of one’s identity. NCAA officials voted unanimously in October 2019 to begin altering the organization’s rule that bars student-athletes from profiting off their names, images and likenesses to ensure collegiate athletes have equal opportunities as other students to make money. The NCAA Board of Governors approved new rules on April 28 that would allow student-athlete compensation through avenues such as social media that wouldn’t involve universities or their trademarks. Many wonder what the full rules will entail, with the NCAA’s three divisions expected to enact them in January 2021.

UT wouldn’t pay Texas senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger or junior center Charli Collier to play under new name, image and likeness rules, but they could potentially earn thousands of dollars on social media, according to data published by Axios from Opendorse, a platform that builds athlete brands.

“Students who have already established a great brand from the beginning will enjoy this,” Collier said via text. “Our name associated with the school brings money and attention, so why can’t we do the same as student-athletes without using the University’s name?”

New name, image and likeness rules could allow less-visible athletes to seek outside employment, said Tolga Ozyurtcu, an assistant professor of instruction in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education.

“Our imaginations are like, we’re going to see Sam (Ehlinger) … selling SUVs on TV, but it also means … walk-on rowers who give the school 50 hours a week … can go get a job,” Ozyurtcu said.

Current NCAA compliance rules bar student-athletes from external employment, unless their university, another institution or private organization hires them as a counselor at a clinic or camp upon

the NCAA’s approval, or the student-athlete starts their own business without using their “name, photograph, appearance or athletics reputation” to promote it. The rule book lists several employment caveats and exceptions, in addition to these exemptions.

“The model of amateurism cannot be upheld, according to them, if athletes are being paid for their performance — even if their employment is explicitly not related to their athletic performance,” said Markell Braxton-Johnson, a sports management graduate student, in an email.

Critics worry athlete compensation might eliminate integrity from college sports, but many athletes who might benefit most from names, images and likenesses attend universities to meet professional league requirements, said Nick Phynn, a 2017 UT track alumnus.

Our name associated with the school brings money and attention, so why can’t we do the same as student-athletes without using the University’s name?”

CHARLI COLLIER

junior center

“Are they really at the school for an education?” Phynn said. “I don’t think we’re changing integrity because these athletes are going to move on if they have the chance.”

Others argue scholarships and educational opportunities suffice, but Phynn said his scholarship didn’t cover all his expenses, and the 98% of athletes whose careers end after college don’t always enjoy promised benefits, as they leave universities with little real-world experience after investing all their time in sports.

Those who are not student-athletes can pursue endless endeavors, from creating startups to joining bands, Ozyurtcu said. He said modifications to name, image and likeness rules would give collegiate athletes the same freedoms.

“When it comes to the athletes, … we’re paternalistic,” Ozyurtcu said. “We want to ‘take care’ of them. What if we just treated them like adults and let them make decisions?”

maria perez / the daily texan staff