The Daily Texan 2021-03-12 by The Daily Texan

A YEAR IN THE MAKING

VOLUME 121, ISSUE 53 FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 2021

connor downs, barbra daly

/ the daily texan staff

Timeline researched and written by Trinady Joslin. Designed by Christina Peebles.

MARCH 2020

MARCH 2 Husch Blackwell released its first set of recommendations to improve the University’s Title IX office. UT said it would implement major changes based on the recommendations.

Composition professor Dan Welcher resigned shortly before the University moved to terminate him for “repeatedly engaging in an array of unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.”

UT students were informed of the resignation March 30. A UT student was diagnosed with mumps by University Health Services.

MARCH 4 Joe Biden won the Texas Democratic presidential primary.

MARCH 6 Anagha Kikkeri and Winston Hung were elected as student body president and vice president. The University canceled Explore UT.

Mayor Steve Adler declared a local state of disaster in Austin, canceled South by Southwest for the first time in 34 years and prohibited events with an expected attendance larger than 2,500 people.

MARCH 11 The University extended spring break for students by one week.

The Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs moved its courses online starting March 30.

MARCH 13 Breonna Taylor was shot and killed during a botched raid carried out by the Louisville Police Department.

tended their spring break or canceled face-to-face classes for the week following spring break.

UT closed operations and canceled classes, only allowing “essential personnel” to work.

The Big 12 announced it was canceling all athletic competition for the remainder of the academic year.

Gov. Greg Abbott declared a state of disaster for all counties in Texas.

The city of Austin confirmed the first two presumptive positive COVID-19 cases in Travis County.

All eight UT System academic institutions ex-

Then-UT President Greg Fenves’ wife tested positive for COVID-19.

MARCH 9 Then-UT President Greg Fenves said since there were no confirmed COVID-19 cases in Travis County, classes would not go online before spring break.

MARCH 12 The Butler School of Music canceled all public events and in-person classes from March 23 through the end of the semester. UT announced large lecture hall classes would be required to go online after spring break, but not all courses would be required to do so.

The NCAA canceled its annual March Madness tournament. Texas Global suspended all education abroad programs. The Big 12 announced the “immediate suspension of all Conference championships until April 15.”

Bass Concert Hall canceled all events starting March 12 through 30. University Health Services had limited capacity to test for COVID-19 and did not test asymptomatic patients.

MARCH 14 Gatherings of 250 or more people were prohibited in Travis County until May.

MARCH 15 Then-UT President Greg Fenves tested negative for COVID-19.

MARCH 17 UT moved all classes online starting March 30, and students were required to move out of their dorms. Mayor Steve Adler ordered bars and dine-in services at Austin restaurants to close and prohibited gatherings of 10 or more people. illustrations by rocky higine the daily texan staff

MARCH 16 Then-President Donald Trump recommended avoiding gathering in groups of more than 10 people.

Two members of the University community tested positive for COVID-19.

Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the closure of Texas schools and dine-in services at restaurants and bars until April 3.

The Austin-Travis County Health Authority confirmed there was evidence of community spread of COVID-19.

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Editor’s Note By TRINADY JOSLIN @trinady05

March 13, 2020 was the last normal paper The Daily Texan produced. The headline read “COVID-19 brings policy changes.” I don’t remember leaving the newsroom that day, but I imagine my trek home was like any other. Surrounded by students, some walking and talking with friends, others listening to music; no one was paying much attention to how much space was between us all. I doubt anyone was wearing a mask. A year later, many UT students have never experienced the buzz of campus life, and many still haven’t stepped foot on campus. This paper is for them. This paper is for every single UT student, staff member, professor and organization that took time out of their

jack myer

/ the daily texan file

Jennessa Groves and Emma Regan protest police brutality by kneeling and holding signs during the playing of the national anthem before their matchup against OU on Sept. 25, 2020.

University Housing and Dining announced that students who are approved for emergency housing will pay $1,472 to live on campus from March 30 to May 20.

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day this year to talk to the Texan. It’s also for those who we didn’t speak with who held us accountable for excluding certain narratives or even getting them wrong. This paper is for every Texan staffer who started working for us this year who hasn’t even seen the newsroom yet. A year ago I don’t think I would’ve thought producing a paper virtually — much less a 26 page one — was possible. This paper is for the management teams that made it possible. You may notice this edition looks a little different. This paper is ultimately a paper of record. Whether you’re reading this March 13, 2021 or years into the future, this edition of The Daily Texan will show you what happened on the UT-Austin campus during the first full year of the COVID-19 pandemic. TL;DR It was hard, filled with grief and this day doesn’t mark the end.

Twenty-eight UT students tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a spring break trip to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The 28 cases were part of a group of 70+ young adults who left for Cabo together via a chartered plane a week and a half earlier.

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order mandating that travelers from several states had to self-quarantine for two weeks or until the end of their stay, whichever is shorter.

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order to limit personal interactions except for essential activities.

Mayor Steve Adler issued a shelter-in-place order for the city of Austin through April 13.

UT announced that it would hold a virtual commencement ceremony in May and pushed the in-person ceremony to an undetermined date.

Then-UT President Greg Fenves announced that Maurie McInnis, executive vice president and provost, was leaving UT at the end of the spring semester to become president of Stony Brook University.

Undergraduate classes could be changed to pass/fail regardless of eligibility and did not count toward the limit on pass/ fail courses.

UT announced it would refer to Travis County for overall COVID-19 numbers instead of tracking the number of student cases.

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Spread Design By CHRISTINA PEEBLES

How Austin has addressed police reform following summer protests By TORI DUFF @torianneduff

After nationwide Black Lives Matter protests and the city’s partial defunding of the Austin Police Department over the summer, Austin’s Reimagining Public Safety task force is approaching the halfway mark in a yearlong timeline of recommendations for public safety changes. The task force aims to reinvest money from APD into community support programs, such as housing for people experiencing homelessness and mental health services. The leadership team was formed in August 2020 after the Austin City Council voted to redirect APD funds to other city programs following the police killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Michael Ramos in Austin. The Office of the City Manager updated members of the public safety committee on the effort’s progress in a Wednesday meeting. However, some activists are saying the program is not enough to solve deeply rooted issues of racism and brutality in policing. “Reallocating funds from policing … is one of the key ways we can provide better services and alternatives, by taking that money and putting it into other forms of

public safety and really expanding the definition of public safety,” said Chas Moore, the executive director of the Austin Justice Coalition, a grassroots movement focused on racial justice. “Police solely do not own the definition of public safety.” Investigations

Task force leadership is investigating racial disparities in APD policing, deputy city manager Nuria Rivera-Vandermyde said during the meeting. Currently, city manager Spencer Cronk is investigating allegations of discrimination and racial bias within APD policies and behaviors, according to the Reimagining Public Safety website. Sociology professor William Kelly, a former member of the Austin Public Safety commission, said while police training can be changed, the bigger concern is the department’s culture. “You can change the curriculum at the (police academy) and retrain on use of lethal force, but at the end of the day, it’s cops on the street interacting with individuals,” Kelly said. “If they are in an environment … that permits people who look different to be treated differently, that is extraordinarily difficult to turn around.” In January, the Office of Police

Oversight, which responds to complaints of police misconduct, oversaw a rewrite of APD’s six use-of-force policies. The action comes from a June 11 resolution to review APD general orders on enforcement policies and practices. “It’s going to take some much-needed change from within the (police) department by having leadership within the department that’s going to be truly committed to doing that work,” Moore said. Actions

Beginning in February, the 911 call center adopted a new script, adding mental health services to the current fire, Emergency Medical Services and police options, according to the website. The city also invested in funding job programs for the unemployed through Workforce First and supporting vulnerable individuals. The effort created a Civil Rights Office to investigate compliance with civil rights laws in February 2021. In February, the city council purchased two hotels to create permanent supportive housing for

APRIL 2020

UT announced that summer classes would be held online. UT tightened online security after Black male students encountered racist ‘Zoom-bombing.”

Daniel Jaffe was named interim vice president and provost.

UT announced 211 UT students traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for spring break and 49 of them had tested positive for COVID-19.

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News of former UT President Gregory Fenves’ departure to serve as Emory University president broke.

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individuals experiencing homelessness using redirected funds. A member of the Liberation Coalition, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said policing is not the solution to public safety. “There will always be core conflicts between the police and oppressed groups until there is total system change outside the police departments,” the coalition member said. “Only through a total revolution of all of society will the fundamental conditions that cause police brutality and oppression be rid of.” illustration by sylvia asuncion-crabb / the daily texan staff

Texas falls behind in COVID-19 response, experts say illustration by barb daly

/ the daily texan staff

By LAUREN ABEL @laurena0324

COVID-19 has tested state officials’ leadership as the ongoing public health crisis has killed nearly 46,000 Texans. Public health and policy experts told The Daily Texan that the state’s response has been relatively less aggressive than other states in fighting off the spread of COVID-19, leaving local governments to act in the state’s place. Steven Pedigo, director of the LBJ Urban Lab, a University urban policy think-tank, said Texas ranks number 46 nationwide in vaccination rates, even before the recent winter storm. “The data speaks for itself. … We were 46th and 45th … on several of these metrics,” Pedigo said. “I think that’s all you need to know about the way that we have thought about our response to COVID.” Donald Kettl, a professor in the

LBJ School of Public Affairs, said a majority of states implemented preventative measures before Texas and are currently taking a more aggressive approach in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Many of the states … tended to move more quickly, both to tamp down the spread of the virus and then to move more aggressively toward vaccinating the population,” Kettl said. While some states, like Vermont and Washington, prioritized health policies, Texas focused more on economic policy, as the state prevented businesses from shutting down and introduced new opportunities such as selling alcohol to-go, Pedigo said. “We’ve been a bit more pro-business. … Our economy here has been a little bit better than other places,” Pedigo said. “Some states went too far down the way in terms of divorcing public health from the economy.” Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project, said

Gov. Greg Abbott used most executive orders to limit what policies local governments were able to implement. “The interesting thing in many ways … about the Texas legislative response is that there hasn’t been one,” Blank said. “The legislative branch of government has not, to this point … done anything of note besides hold some initial hearings.” Local governments, like those in Austin and Dallas, implemented most COVID-19 containment policies and enforced much more stringent measures, such as mask mandates punishable by law and business capacity limits, Blank said. From 2019 to 2020, Abbott increased his use of executive orders by 1,350%. Abbott passed two executive orders in 2019, and since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has signed 27 orders, 26 of which were pandemic-related. Last week, Abbott issued an executive order ending the statewide

mask mandate and allowing all businesses to open at 100% capacity beginning March 10. “Texas in general was later than most states at adopting things like social distancing and mask mandates,” Kettl said. “Local governments on the other hand have tended to be much tougher both in trying to act early and trying to keep the restrictions longer.” Efforts to deny or deflect the realities of the virus and importance of the vaccine pose the largest barriers to containing the spread of COVID-19, Kettl said. “The risk of being late to impose restrictions and too early to lift them means that we run the risk of having the virus continue to circulate and continue to cause trouble,” Kettl said. “There are going to be some pockets of the state that are more likely to be places where the virus is going to continue to spread as a result of that.”

UT moved all summer new student orientation sessions online. The UT System Board of Regents voted to appoint Jay Hartzell as UT interim president.

UT received a total of $31 million in federal stimulus aid from the CARES Act.

UT Senate of College Councils decided to not introduce any new legislation for the remainder of the spring semester.

The City of Austin began requiring face masks in public and extended stay-at-home orders until May 8.

UT announced that online summer classes would have increased capacity and reduced tuition rates.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced executive orders to open retail stores for “retail to go” services, create a task force to reopen the Texas economy and increase the amount of surgeries allowed by hospitals.

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‘It was my favorite place’: Students reflect on permanent closures of local restaurants went on his first date with a former boyfriend. It became their special spot. “I (remember ordering) my own breakfast sandwich with the little potatoes they used to have, and he got the mac ‘n’ cheese,” Garcia said. “Every single time we would go out on a ‘date date’ … we would go to Magnolia.”

By JENNY ERRICO & GRACE BARNES

@erricojenny, @gracebarnes210

Each week Charlie Garcia used to set aside $20 from his serving tips to eat at Fricano’s Deli. West Campus favorite Fricano’s Deli first opened their Nueces Street location in 2011. Nine years later, April 21, 2020, they permanently closed after city orders at the time prohibited dine-in services due to COVID-19. “It was my favorite place,” advertising senior Garcia said. “There’s no way I’m ever going to find a sandwich that I like as much as Fricano’s. I’m saying that with full confidence.” 155 Austin restaurants, including Fricano’s, permanently or temporarily closed their doors between March 1 and July 10, 2020, leaving many employees without jobs and UT students nostalgic for their favorite spots. Fricano’s

Alicia Davila, radio-television-film and English senior, said Fricano’s was the first place she ate in Austin. “Fricano’s (really) gave the feeling of Austin … it was very homey and I really enjoyed it,” Davila said. “I think it was my family’s first restaurant they ate

QDOBA

at because I would bring everyone there.” Varsity Pizza and Pints

Varsity Pizza and Pints closed their Duval Street location May 2020 after serving the Austin community for 20 years. Architectural engineering senior Jack Gallagher said all of spirit group Texas Iron Spikes were disappointed by the closure. “It was our spot,” said Gallagher, president of Texas Iron Spikes. “There’s nothing

else like it, and now it’s gone. I would usually show up at 12:30 (p.m.) and stay until our meeting at 7 (p.m.)” Gallagher said he misses the camaraderie. He said he and other members of the spirit group knew every Thursday they would all be there. “It was exactly like Central Perk in ‘Friends,’” Gallagher said. “We had our own elevated wooden section of the restaurant we would always sit at.” Gallagher said he’s sad he

can’t share Varsity Pizza and Pints with his brother who will be attending UT next fall. Magnolia Cafe

The 24-hour diner on Lake Austin Boulevard known for its Tex-Mex and classic breakfast dishes permanently closed its doors April 16 after serving Austin residents for 41 years. Garcia also has fond memories of the West Austin Magnolia Cafe, where he said he

Government sophomore Alejandro Casteñeda said he met one of his best friends at QDOBA during his first semester at UT. After their philosophy class, they often walked to the location at the corner of 24th Street and Guadalupe Street to eat and do homework. “I miss the vibe,” Casteñeda said. “It was really nice sitting outside and just watching the (sunset) and there were never too many people. (QDOBA) became our space.” QDOBA first opened their Guadalupe Street location in 2011 and permanently closed nine years later on July 2020. “I don’t think Austin will be hurt by one QDOBA closing, but all the businesses it’s losing because of COVID-19 is hurting the soul of the city,” Casteñeda said. “It’s sad to know all these memories you’ve built (around a location), won’t be there anymore.”

illustration by sylvia asuncion-crabb

/ the daily texan staff

MAY 2020

Fricano’s Deli on Nueces Street permanently closed.

Michael Ramos was shot and killed by a former officer of the Austin Police Department.

Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he would let the stay-athome order in Texas expire April 30, which allowed stores to open at a limited capacity.

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The UT System announced its plans to reopen all its institutions in the fall.

Gov. Greg Abbott loosened restrictions on certain ceremonies and allowed salons and gyms to reopen within the month.

Mayor Steve Adler extended xAustin’s stay-at-home orders until the end of May with exceptions for the businesses that Gov. Greg Abbott reopened.

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Longhorns look forward to second chance at Big 12 Tournament By MATTHEW BONCOSKY @mboncosky

For the second consecutive year, the Texas men’s basketball team is gearing up for a postseason run amid unusual circumstances. At least this year the tournament will actually be played. Last year, the Longhorns took the court to warm up for their opening matchup of the 2020 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Tournament against Texas Tech before being abruptly yanked off just prior to tip-off. Later that day, the sports world rapidly shut down over concerns that COVID-19 had made its way to the United States. “I was pretty mad because I wanted to play,” junior guard Courtney Ramey said in a Monday teleconference. “But in the grand scheme of things, I understood why they pulled us off the court.” As the day unfolded, every conference canceled its individual basketball tournaments, and the NCAA announced the cancellation of its March Madness tournament and all spring sports for the remainder of the academic year. Now, a year later, the Longhorns are back in Kansas City competing in the Big 12 Tournament in the hopes of capturing the program’s first ever conference

tournament championship. “It’s never been done at Texas,” Ramey said. “So we want to keep doing things that never have been done at the school. We want to approach these three games as like a new season.” Regardless of how the Big 12 Tournament unfolds, Texas will receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament, whether via an automatic bid for winning the conference tournament or an at-large bid due to a strong, top-25 resume. In previous years, the Longhorns did not have the luxury of knowing their bid to the big dance is secure. “That is like a deep breath,” senior guard Matt Coleman said. “Now I just feel like it’s just let your hair down and just hoop.” This year’s 68-team NCAA Tournament will look very different due to COVID-19 precautions. Typically, the tounament unfolds on a regional basis with games held in arenas across the country before converging into one location for the Final Four and National Championship games. This year, the NCAA announced the entire tournament will take place in Indiana at a handful of arenas in Bloomington, Indianapolis and West Lafayette. “They took it away from us last year

with COVID, so now we get to really go,” sophomore forward Kai Jones said. “I feel like we have a chance to do something special. I’m pretty excited to say the least.” The revamped structure presents a unique challenge for the Longhorns, who could potentially be away from Austin for almost a month without the opportunity to come home between rounds like previous years. But after a long regular season defined by COVID-19 disruptions and empty arenas, No. 13 Texas has a chance to end its season on a high note with a strong postseason run. “We would love to be on the road for

the next month,” head coach Shaka Smart said in a March 7 post-game availability. “But it’s one of those situations where, in both of these tournaments, they’re single elimination. So in order to do that, it’s about winning the game in front of us and then quickly turning the page.”

illustration by sylvia asuncion-crabb

/ the daily texan staff

UT announced fall classes would begin Aug. 26 as planned, but would be remote after Thanksgiving break. In-person commencement ceremonies for the fall semester were postponed. Gov. Greg Abbott announced that bars and several other businesses would be allowed to reopen with limited capacity beginning May 22.

UT announced ten custodial staff members had tested positive for COVID-19.

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The parents of Nicky Cumberland, a Texas Cowboy who died after a 2018 car crash, sued the Texas Cowboys spirit group.

The Big 12 announced that football student-athletes could return to campus for voluntary athletics activities beginning June 15.

UT hosted a virtual graduation for the class of 2020.

George Floyd was suffocated and killed by a Minneapolis police officer.

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UT, WHERE DO BLACK STUDENT DEMANDS STAND NOW? The Daily Texan Diversity and Inclusion Board asked student organizations for their perspective on UT’s response to racial injustice. In the wake of summer protests against police brutality led by the Black Lives Matter movement, students received an email from then-Interim President Jay Hartzell claiming he was listening to the community to understand how UT could promote campus equity and “fully support our Black students.” However, in an email from Hartzell last week reflecting on “The Eyes of Texas” report, he said “no one should shut down” people who want to sing the song. The utter disconnect between these two emails is clear and begs the question — who is the administration really listening to? One major demand from UT athletes to make campus safer for Black students was for UT to replace “The Eyes of Texas” as its official alma mater. This request is nothing new: only the national scrutiny brought forth by last summer’s protests propelled UT to engage in conversation about the song’s problematic origins. Hartzell distanced himself and the University from recent “abhorrent and hateful” emails to UT from donors and alumni uncovered by media outlets, but it is clear that some alumni feel entitled to a tradition that actively

marginalizes Black students. UT’s institutionalized racism doesn’t end with “The Eyes of Texas.” Many other buildings, including T.S. Painter Hall, the Littlefield Home, and the Belo Center for New Media still memorialize their racist namesakes. We applaud the University for at least renaming Robert Lee Moore Hall, but this came after years of student activism surrounding the issue. It shouldn’t take years for UT to listen to student voices. Black students and their allies had to step up in place of the University to ensure their needs were met. A coalition of student organizations drafted a list of demands for the University. Earl Potts Jr., a computer science and African and African diaspora studies junior, created an app to support Black students through the protests. The respect we hold for students advocates is immeasurable. But should the burden really be on them? We understand we aren’t the most important voices in this conversation. That insight belongs to the Black students on campus whose thoughts we want to highlight. We urge you to listen and take action on what they have to say.

jack myer

/ the daily texan file

As the Austin Police Department shuts down a protest on Aug. 29, 2020, two people walk down Cesar Chavez St. in front of City Hall.

“Continue to advocate, lead, and inspire change” By BLACK STUDENT ALLIANCE Contributor

First, we would like to acknowledge and applaud the tremendous time and effort put forward by UT’s Black President Leadership Council on behalf of the Black student body and in collaboration with UT administration through the summer and this school year to create lasting change on

campus. Though the University has begun many great initiatives including, but not limited to, expanding the UT Austin Police Oversight Committee and renaming the RLM building to the Physics, Math and Astronomy Building, there is still a great deal of work to be done to ensure a legacy of inclusivity and progress at UT. Recent events, specifically the racially insensitive statements made toward

the Black UT population and the racist history surrounding “The Eyes of Texas” is further evidence that there is work to be done not only on our campus, but amid our alumni groups and anyone who considers themselves a part of the University of Texas body. We, the Black Student Alliance, along with the greater Black BSA

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JUNE 2020

The University said it planned to hold most fall classes in person and move the 400 biggest classes online.

UT announced that up to 19% of fall classes would be held online.

For months, people across the nation protested the police killings of George Floyd, Michael Ramos and many other Black people. According to a New York Times article from July 3, June 6 marked the peak of the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests as half a million people turned out in nearly 550 places across the United States.

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UT announced that students, faculty and staff would be required to wear masks inside campus buildings in the fall.

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Students and faculty honored George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and other Black people who were victims of police brutality and racism at a virtual vigil. Two Longhorn football players tested positive for COVID-19.

Austin City Council members unanimously passed an item that reallocated funds from the police department to other public health services.

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When it comes to Black student demands, we need transparency and engagement By NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE UNIT 6888-B Contributor

The NAACP stands by the positions we took in the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last summer. While UT has taken some steps to address racism and inequality on campus, our systemic issues with discrimination on campus have yet to be addressed. Last summer, the University took steps to investigate the origins of “The Eyes of Texas’’ and restructured some upper level positions in the interest of promoting diversity and inclusion. While welcome, these decisions made little difference in the practical lives and safety of the Black community at UT. It is apparent that there is much more work to be done than UT is willing to realize. Regarding specific issues, the transparency that the NAACP called for regarding UTPD’s role in monitoring the campus climate, involvement with APD, as well as calls for reductions to UTPD’s budget, have been ignored. In fact, UT is working on expanding UTPD’s presence in West Campus, which will certainly affect Black students’ ability to feel safe in an area they are already excluded from. Additionally, the reallocation of funds toward initiatives that would benefit the community has fallen short. If UT wants to support its Black community, then the role of the police in marginalizing Black people and

presence on campus must be explicitly addressed. Other problems that have long gone unaddressed at a widespread level within the UT community are also becoming apparent. The racist and disturbing emails from Texas boosters regarding the University’s investigation into “The Eyes of Texas” are just the most recent of several statements that highlight UT’s fundamental misunderstanding of Black students’ — especially Black student-athletes’ — relationship to the song. “History” aside, the song is racist now, too, and that is far more relevant than any unifying feelings it may inspire. A committee can find what it will in the history books, as it should, but the damage continues to be done. Students should continue showing up for meetings, engaging in difficult conversations and pushing themselves and the University to face their racist history and present. Organizations like the NAACP can only function with the support and involvement of students across campus and provide an opportunity for UT students to engage with their peers about these issues. Off campus, students should engage with organizations like the Austin Justice Coalition, which works to improve the lives and achieve liberation for the communities in Austin who have been impacted by institutionalized racism. NAACP Unit 6888-B is UT-Austin’s chapter of the broader grassroots organization NAACP.

illustrations by destiny alexander

“Southern trees continue to bear a strange fruit” By MUNJI NFOR Contributor

Anger cannot express my pain and exhaustion like being unsurprised does. It sits on my face like a cement mask. Solid, cold, but slowly cracking as pressure is continuously applied. At least when I’m angry, the reason is unexpected, and I’m completely blindsided. How can I be surprised that one of the largest primarily white institutions in the heart of Texas placates the public with surface-level initiatives and announcements when it comes to the issue of racism? The expectation that my university would maintain statues of individuals who owned slaves or refrain from renaming dorms that I and other Black students are expected to live in is horrific. The normalization of being let down is far more disturbing than constantly being taken aback. Being shocked insinuates that there is a higher standard. But when there is a trend of hypocrisy, that trust is shattered. It is my freshman year, and already there have been new exhibitions created in the horrid gallery that is decorated with our untouched issues. I do not feel welcome, I do not feel respected, and I haven’t even stayed on campus. Despite my acknowledgment of the world we live in, I will continue to disrupt and demand better. Not a day has gone by since I began classes at UT that I haven’t been reminded of the apathy of the administration. Frankly, the University’s responses to “The Eyes of Texas,” especially the statement made on Tuesday, have been beyond insulting to the Black community. How is singing a song that is offensive and unsettling

holding oneself accountable? Out of respect, would it not be best to refrain and condemn it? Well, we are the most disrespected group in the world. If what starts here changes the world, why hasn’t the culture of invalidation towards those of African descent been fought against on a greater scale here? One of the most powerful movements in history is racism towards Black people, and in the past year we have seen a major manifestation of it as the depths of our racial divides were not created, but revealed. Why are more diversity & inclusion committees being created now when minorities have been attending the University for decades? Let it be known that they are not meant to last forever and serve as public relations sanctuaries. The information, expectations and ideas that emerge from them and make clear the importance of equity and respect should be regarded as necessary and revolutionary in the beginning but also as a normalized standard that never needs to be questioned in the end. Just as diverse curriculums should be normalized, professors of color not mainly being involved in studies related to D&I should be normalized and listening to students should be normalized. What is this investment in racism? Who will lose in this struggle for equity? Why has the spilled blood of my people across the South not been enough for change to be enacted? We all know the answer, but I want my school to say and do something about it. Nfor is a public relations freshman from San Antonio, TX.

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. 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. 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.

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student, faculty and staff body will continue to advocate, lead and inspire change, not only to hold President Hartzell and the administration accountable to their promises of creating a more diverse and welcoming campus, but to protect the current Black UT population and establish a firm foundation for future generations of Black UT students. The Black Student Alliance is a student organization committed to uplifting and empowering the Black community at UT.

/ the daily texan staff

Athletes requested the University rename oncampus buildings named after Confederate or racist figures and drop “The Eyes of Texas.”

A spokesperson told The Daily Texan that those who refused to wear face masks inside University buildings in the fall would face disciplinary action, and the UT Police Department would handle noncompliant visitors.

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UT announced up to 3,500 of 11,000 fall classes would be held online.

The Daily Texan reported that UT expected to have the capacity to process up to 1,500 COVID-19 tests daily in the fall.

Thirteen Longhorn football players tested positive for COVID-19.

UT announced that fall 2021 prospective undergraduates would not be required to submit an SAT or ACT score as part of their application.

The Daily Texan reported that UT said residence halls would open Aug. 20, and most rooms would be double occupancy, with limited availability for single occupancy.

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The University denied a request from the Miakan-Garza Band, a Coahuiltecan tribe, for the remains of three Native Americans after the tribe initially requested them four years ago. LHBlacks was formed to uplift Black students within the Longhorn Band.

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OPINION

Improve communication on sexual misconduct reform By THE DAILY TEXAN EDITORIAL BOARD @TexanOpinion

Transparency. Regular communication. Prompt disclosure. All are practices students hoped to see the University adopt regarding sexual misconduct on campus after former UT President Gregory Fenves accepted law firm Husch Blackwell’s initial recommendations March 2, 2020. Since July 8, 2020, when UT President Jay Hartzell announced he had accepted the second set of Husch Blackwell’s recommendations, the campus community has yet to receive any significant updates from UT on the implementation timeline of these new policies. Since then, students have been left to wonder and wait. When the University doesn’t communicate, students don’t know whether changes to Title IX policies and programs are ongoing or stalled. Students don’t know if their professors have recently been sanctioned for violating sexual misconduct policy. One of Husch Blackwell’s initial recommendations encouraged the University to proactively disclose the names of employees who remain employed by UT after being sanctioned for sexual misconduct. Students have received no

reassurances from administration that sexual misconduct reform is and has remained a priority on campus. If UT has no new names to disclose at this time, it needs to tell us that. “Jay Hartzell had made no effort to communicate, or even give the illusion that a year’s worth of student time and energy and fear are still even on the agenda at UT,” said Kaya Epstein, a cellular and molecular biology junior. Epstein, a member of the Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct and the Student Government Interpersonal Violence Prevention policy director, has spent years organizing around improving UT’s sexual misconduct policies. However, Epstein said they have received no communication from the President and his administration about implementing the Husch Blackwell recommendations since July 2020. In an emailed statement, Title IX coordinator Adriana Alicea-Rodriguez said if any UT employee is found to have committed sexual assault, sexual harassment, stalking or interpersonal violence, the presumptive sanction is termination. “If there is a case in which a UT employee is found to have engaged in one of these four types of prohibited conduct and the employee is not terminated, the

University will make that information available to the campus community and public,” Alicea-Rodriguez said. “To date, no new cases have met the criteria for disclosure as outlined in the policy. Therefore, the University does not have any names to publish at this time.” UT last released a list of names in January 2020, which included three faculty members that are still employed by the University and teaching classes: Johann Hofmann, Kevin Dalby and Coleman Hutchison. In October of last year, the Texan’s news department reported that “University employees reported over 1,000 accounts of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking incidents from January to August” 2020. It’s not unreasonable for students to worry for their safety while in the classroom, especially when the University doesn’t provide enough information for them to make informed scheduling decisions. Zoe de Beurs, former Natural Sciences Council president and physics, mathematics and astronomy senior, said students need to know whether University administration is planning to continue to enact changes and regularly update the campus

community, or if student leadership will have to keep pushing administration to do so. “It would be nice if they could still release some kind of statement, even just, ‘This is the date that we’re releasing (the names); Okay, there are zero,’” de Beurs said. “Otherwise … students fall through the cracks and we won’t necessarily be able to make sure that students are safe and can make informed decisions.” It’s been over a year since Fenves accepted Husch Blackwell’s initial recommendations. We understand the pandemic has certainly hindered efforts in unanticipated ways, but communication from the University regarding sexual misconduct reform and Title IX changes must improve. “What they need to do is release a report biyearly at the minimum that no professors have been found guilty, no professors have been guilty and retained, etc.,” Epstein said. “Regardless of if there have been cases and people found guilty or not, the University owes students the comfort of knowing.” If there are no new names to proactively disclose, students still need to know.

JULY 2020

The Austin City Limits 2020 festival was canceled.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement released new guidance that required international students to take at least one in-person class or lose their visa and leave the country.

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A University custodial staff member died due to COVID-19 related complications.

Law firm Husch Blackwell released its final set of Title IX policy recommendations for the University, including a recommendation to centralize Title IX investigations to one office.

The University announced it would rename the Robert Lee Moore Hall and keep “The Eyes of Texas,” despite its racist origins.

The federal government decided to allow international students to take all classes online and remain in the United States.

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A year of what-ifs: Texas Athletics during COVID-19 By CARTER YATES @Carter_Yates16

Division I football and men’s basketball are the sports that almost entirely fund university athletic departments. They stop for no one — not even a pandemic. In the 2020-2021 academic year, the Big 12 Conference completed a college football season with limited capacities and numerous cancellations. They’re now on track to crown a postseason conference tournament champion in basketball for the first time since 2019. But while the record books will show that UT, Texas Tech, TCU and Baylor completed seasons in football and basketball, people will not soon forget how different sports looked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Colin Post, a TCU junior and the sports editor for TCU 360, said the university’s decision to limit capacity and curb pregame festivities, while logical, took the atmosphere out of

college football. “At TCU, things like tailgating for students is a huge deal,” Post said. “I think especially at that point where we were in August, everyone was pretty understanding about just where the country was with the virus. It wasn’t a big backlash thing, but there definitely was this sense of disappointment.” In terms of limiting fan attendance, TCU was no different from other Texas schools in the Big 12 Conference. UT, Texas Tech and Baylor all shrunk their stadium capacities and abandoned normal game day traditions in an effort to abide by social distancing protocols. However, at Baylor, the decision to hold on to a sage game day ritual proved costly, said DJ Ramirez, a Baylor senior and sports editor of the Baylor Lariat. “Baylor has the ‘Baylor Line’ tradition where you get the freshmen that are running across the field before every game,” Ramirez said. “They had these bracelets

that were supposed to track who you came in contact with. After that first game, there was a spike in COVID cases on campus, and they were trying to figure out if the bracelets had worked.” Aside from a more pedestrian fan experience, the results on the field and the hardwood often proved disappointing for Texas schools. The Longhorns fired head coach Tom Herman after a disappointing football year. A year after appearing in the Sugar Bowl, Baylor’s football team finished at a dismal 2–7 with a new head coaching staff that couldn’t overcome multiple postponements, Ramirez said. “A lot of the offensive line especially was affected,” Ramirez said. “You wouldn’t always have guys that were practicing at the same time. You had guys that were missing one week, and they would get back the next week. You didn’t really have a consistency going on.” Post said TCU stumbled to a 13–13 basketball

record after missing close to 100 preseason practices. “I don’t want to say, ‘If it weren’t for COVID, TCU basketball would’ve been phenomenal this year,’ but the nation did not get to see the true TCU basketball team this season because of COVID,” Post said. As the NCAA plunges full steam ahead into March Madness, T e x a s schools are left to reflect on challenging seasons with no option to point the finger at anyone but themselves. “I think, honestly, both football and basketball took a hit,” Post said. “But at the

same time (TCU head basketball coach) Jamie Dixon was saying the other day, ‘You can’t make excuses, everyone is dealing with it.’”

illustration by rocky higine

/ the daily texan staff

AUGUST Classics professor Thomas Hubbard sued 11 people, including at least one UT student, for libel and slander after they accused him of advocating for pedophilia and called for his removal from the University in fall 2019.

2020

UT announced plans for proactive and symptomatic COVID-19 testing for students, staff and faculty. UT said it would aim to have 1,000 proactive saliva tests per day.

Texas Athletics announced that Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium would be limited to 50% stadium capacity during football season.

The New York Times published a survey that listed UT as having the highest number of reported COVID-19 cases out of hundreds of universities nationwide. UT said the survey was not an “accurate comparison,” because UT tracks data other institutions may not.

The University asked students to self-quarantine for 14 days prior to returning to campus in the fall. UT Interim President Jay Hartzell said the University is considering limiting football stadium capacity to 25%.

Texas Athletics announced fans would be required to wear a mask inside the stadium and that halftime shows wouldn’t occur.

Several Longhorn Band leaders, including the drum major, told The Daily Texan they would not play “The Eyes of Texas” in the fall.

Texas football hosted its first full team practice since Dec. 29, 2019.

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A CHANGE OF PLANS AND POLICY What executive alliance Anagha and Winston did during their 2020-2021 term.

By SHERYL LAWRENCE @sheryl_adelle

ach March, the Student Government executive alliance is elected to serve as the voice of the student body. Each alliance team has a platform they set out to implement during their yearlong term. To understand what policies the administration has completed, The Daily Texan spoke to student body president Anagha Kikkeri and student body vice president Winston Hung to see what is completed or in progress under each campaign point. During the 2020-2021 term, the Anagha and Winston administration focused on six platform points: Longhorn pride, engagement, sustainability, health, safety, and inclusion and equity. The administration published two documents addressing SG accomplishments in summer 2020

and fall 2020, which were sent to efforts were making sure that there’s students who chose to opt-in for the documentation of what’s gone on in newsletter. These documents were the past (and) where we are now,” not published on the website, but they Hung said. “That document is essencan be found in the linktr.ee SG posttially the continuity committee.” ed on Twitter and Instagram. Dave Dessauer, director of the UT According to the SG website, the Leadership and Ethics Institute in the 2019-2020 Camron and Amie adminOffice of the Dean of Students, said the istration was able to implement most role of the legislative student organizaof their platform points or give the tion advisers is to provide support for next administration the foundation to student leaders to complete their platcomplete them. form points and give them the resourcCamron Goodman, 2019-2020 es to continue platform points from student body president, and Amie past administrations. Jean, 2019-2020 student body vice president, said one of their main initiatives was to create a continuity committee to help fulfill platform points that take longer than a year. Winston Hung, current student body vice president, said while the continuity committee did not take a formal role this year, they have documentation of all of Goodman and eddie gaspar/ the daily texan staff Jean’s initiatives. “Part of our continuity Amie Jean and Camron Goodman were the 2019-2020 executive alliance.

The Daily Texan reported off-campus COVID-19 guideline violations would not be enforced by University staff or the UT Police Department.

Interim President Jay Hartzell was named the sole finalist to become UT’s next president. The UT System Board of Regents approved new systemwide Title IX and sexual misconduct policies to comply with federal Title IX modifications.

Austin City Council unanimously approved Austin’s annual fiscal budget, redistributing $150 million in cuts from the Austin Police Department budget.

University researchers published a report showing that between 82 and 183 UT students may arrive infected with COVID-19 during the first week of classes.

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illustration by destiny alexander

/ the daily texan staff

A student in San Jacinto Residence Hall tested positive for COVID-19.

UT said 76% of fall classes would be online.

The Daily Texan reported UT had not declared a set number of confirmed COVID-19 cases that would cause a campus shutdown but declared student death as a potential shutdown trigger.

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The Texas football team did not practice for two days to protest racial injustice.

17 INCLUSION & EQUITY

Student Voices in Housing and Safe Physical Space The administration planned to create a student-led housing commission to push for increased resources in Riverside but shifted their focus to affordable housing for all students, headed by the housing policy directors. “We’re focused a lot on switching to affordable housing, how the University can support affordable housing, how the University can buy properties in West Campus or around campus,” student body president Kikkeri said.

ENGAGEMENT

SG Success Fund and SG Email Updates The SG success fund was going to create an endowment to assist students with test preparation tools and expenses for graduate and postgraduate school. Hung said they since learned this goal was infeasible, and they have refocused to provide funding to the Sanger Learning Center. In a profile published by The Daily Texan before the 2020 executive alliance elections, Kikkeri said the campaign wanted to eliminate the lack of communication between SG and the student body with biweekly email updates. They later decided against this because of the amount of emails students received from UT administration about the COVID-19, instead offering an opt-in newsletter, Hung said in a previous interview with The

Daily Texan. Students who opted in did not receive biweekly emails but instead received one email update at the end of the fall 2020 semester and one update March 9.

HEALTH

Menstrual Equity, West Campus Farmer’s Market and Expand CMHC Virtual Access Hung said the Women’s Resource Agency began working to supply menstrual products in all the bathrooms on campus a few years ago, and the executive board is working to make the initiative more long term. Hung said they will not move forward with the plan of implementing a West Campus farmer’s market due to COVID-19 restrictions. During the transition to online learning, the administration met with the UT Counseling and Mental Health Center almost weekly to convey what students needed and wanted, Kikkeri said. According to the SG fall 2020 in review document, CMHC hired more case managers and CARE counselors.

of an agency … and are pushing sustainability-related initiatives.”

SAFETY

West Campus Lighting and Sexual Assault Prevention The administration, along with the City Relations Agency, released a petition on March 6 to the student body for improved lighting in West Campus. The assembly also passed a piece of legislation ‌in‌ ‌support‌ ‌of‌ ‌installing‌ ‌lights‌ ‌in‌ West Campus‌. The Interpersonal Violence

Prevention policy directors are working on a campaign with the Title IX Office, according to the SG fall 2020 in review document. Kikkeri and Hung did not speak on the specifics of the campaign citing they are not working on the campaign.

LONGHORN PRIDE

Spirit Week The administration is working with the Longhorn Athletics Agency to implement an annual spirit week, which is set for March 22-28. When

asked for specific plans, Hung said he did not want to reveal much but emphasized the blood drive scheduled for March 24-25.

LOOKING FORWARD

On Friday, March 12 at 3 p.m., the next executive alliance will be announced. Two of the four executive alliance candidates have never participated in SG, and none of the candidates have identified creating a continuity committee as a platform point.

SUSTAINABILITY

SG Agency The administration hopes to create a sustainability agency to focus on sustainability-related initiatives each year. “It’s a yearlong bureaucratic process to make an agency, so we are in the process of doing that,” Kikkeri said. “We have two sustainability policy directors, and they’ve essentially done the functions

jack myer

/ the daily texan staff

Anagha Kikkeri and Winston Hung were the 2020-2021 executive alliance.

SEPTEMBER 2020

Austin Public Health officials said UT hosting 25,000 fans at the first football game could have harmful repercussions and increase COVID-19 spread.

One student in Kinsolving Residence Hall and one in Jester West Residence Hall tested positive for COVID-19. Three Scottish Rite Dormitory residents tested positive for COVID-19. A Scottish Rite Dormitory resident tested positive for COVID-19.

Electric scooter rental companies allowed their on-campus contracts to expire due to decrease in demand.

The Daily Texan obtained emails from American Campus Communities to residents saying they may evict students for violating social distancing guidelines that restricted indoor gatherings to 10 people.

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Texas Athletics announced Big Ticket holders would have to test negative for COVID-19 the day before claiming their ticket on game day. Austin Public Health officials announced that UT accounted for 23% of Travis County COVID-19 cases in the past week.

A student in Carothers Residence Hall tested positive for COVID-19.

The UT COVID-19 Dashboard was retroactively updated to add 109 cases from off-campus testing sources.

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Spread Design By EUNICE BAO

On Sept. 2, 3 and 11, the University saw its three biggest spikes of COVID-19 positive cases, with each day having 94, 71 and 115 cases, respectively. This could be attributed to the three West Campus COVID-19 clusters, reported by UT, which made up 100 total cases.

On April 1, the COVID-19 dashboard reported 29 positive COVID-19 cases due to students going on a trip to Cabos San Lucas, Mexico. This was UT-Austin’s first outbreak.

What a year’s worth of COVID-19 case numbers tells us about how the pandemic affected the UT community. By KEVIN VU @Kevin_Vu_

Spring 2020 Nearly one year ago, UT canceled classes and closed operations on March 13, 2020. As of Friday, the University has reported 3,632 cases of COVID-19 since March 1, 2020, according to the UT COVID-19 dashboard. On March 11, former then-UT President Greg Fenves announced that spring break would be extended by one week. Fenves also said the University would implement social distancing precautions after spring break and move some classes online. “Initially when the quarantine was implemented, the actions were

pretty extreme,” business freshman Samhitha Kempaiah said. “I thought it would be enough to decrease the cases of COVID, so I thought it would go on for maybe like a few weeks (or) months. I thought by the summer of last year, it would have been gone.” On March 13, Fenves announced UT had identified its first two cases of COVID-19 — his wife, Carmel Fenves, and another family member of his who worked at UT. “That first month was a giant blur in the (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) changing their algorithms every four to eight hours,” said Amy Young, chief clinical officer for UT Health Austin. “That evolution to where we have come from those early days to now, those days

were some of the most chaotic.” Austin Public Health and UT Health officials told community members to stay vigilant against the spread of COVID-19 and work toward flattening the curve. Yet cases continued to rise. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a year of virtual learning for many UT students and a dramatic shift in daily life. The Daily Texan took a look back at notable COVID-19 news and case counts from the past year. Total cases from March 1 - March 31, 2020: 54 During spring break, 211 UT students traveled to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, according to an April 3, 2020, article from UT News. Of the 211 students, 49 tested positive for

COVID-19 as of the April 3 article, marking the first recorded outbreak within the UT community. According to a CDC report published in July 2020, 60 of the 183 Cabo travelers tested positive for COVID-19. About 8% of their household contacts and about 9% of their community contacts tested positive, according to the report. The second UT outbreak occurred when 10 custodial staff members tested positive for COVID-19 on May 19, 2020. Total cases from March 1 - May 31, 2020: 135 Summer 2020 “The first month of quarantine, I didn’t mind it that much,” said

Blake Todes, an economics and Plan II freshman. “It really wasn’t until probably August, when I had to start online school, is when it kinda hit me that I’ve been so isolated from other people. … It felt like I was doing the same thing every day, and it became monotonous.” A custodial staff member died due to complications from COVID-19 in early July, marking the University’s first COVID-19-related death. The New York Times published an article on July 28 that showed UT topping the list of most COVID-19 cases compared to hundreds of other universities nationwide. A UT model report released in mid-August projected that between 82 and 183 UT students would arrive

Texas football hosted 15,000 fans in their season opener against UT-El Paso. Dozens of students gathered at the Texas Rho fraternity house in West Campus, and the Austin Fire Marshal shut the party down.

UT reported three COVID-19 case clusters in West Campus with about 100 positive cases, collectively.

A Duren resident tested positive for COVID-19.

A Jester West resident tested positive for COVID-19.

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illustrations by sylvia asuncion-crabb

/ the daily texan staff

A Kinsolving resident tested positive for COVID-19.

The University announced it would continue to automatically admit the top 6% of eligible high school students in Texas for summer and fall 2022.

UT reported a total of 1,117 COVID-19 cases in the community since March 1.

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3,632

AND COUNTING

infected with COVID-19 during the first week of fall classes. Total cases from March 1 - August 25, 2020: 511 Fall 2020 Austin Public Health officials said in a news conference in early September that UT accounted for 23% of Travis County COVID-19 cases that week. Throughout the first few weeks of the fall semester, The Daily Texan reported COVID-19 cases in multiple residence halls. The University only informed dorm residents of positive COVID-19 cases if they were living on the same floor as someone who tested positive, and UT said they couldn’t disclose the information publicly due to privacy laws. However, according to previous reporting by The Daily

Texan, the FERPA law only requires the University not to name people who have tested positive. Five days after the APH news conference, UT announced three COVID-19 clusters totaling approximately 100 positive cases in West Campus. “People living on West Campus were not taking this seriously,” Kempaiah said. “I knew this because … I would see people going to parties.” In late September, Dell Medical School experts said there was little COVID-19 transmission between UT students and Austin residents. A second University staff member died due to COVID-19 in early October. The staff member was believed to have contracted the virus off campus.

Total cases from March 1 December 31, 2020: 2,355 Spring 2021 On-campus dorm residents were required to take a COVID-19 test within four days of returning to their residence hall for the spring semester. More than 330 students, staff and faculty from UT tested positive for COVID-19 in the first two weeks of the 2021 spring semester. Two cases of the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 from the United Kingdom were detected in the UT community on Feb. 5. As of March 10, the UT COVID-19 dashboard reports 100 estimated active cases in the UT community. The Proactive Community Testing

positivity rate is at roughly 1%. The University currently has no plans to require students to get vaccinated, according to previous reporting by The Daily Texan. The University recommends vaccinations for all members of the UT community, said Art Markman, head of the academic working group for COVID-19 planning at UT. Markman said there “are likely to be some legal hurdles to requiring the vaccine.” He said the University is considering requiring cloth masks in UT buildings for the fall 2021 semester, but that decision will be made based on the best available data. “We hope, based on this information that the state has shared with us, vaccines will be plentiful,

and President Biden has shared this,” Young said. “We hope that most of the students, staff and faculty will be vaccinated, and we are hoping for a return in the fall, but we need to understand more about what’s going to happen over the summer.” Cases from March 1, 2020 - March 12, 2021: 3,632 Students, faculty and staff should plan to have a “near normal” fall 2021 semester with in-person research and classes, UT President Jay Hartzell announced in a Thursday letter.

OCTOBER 2020

Austin Public Health released a report showing UT enforced 6 out of 10 COVID-19 safety plan provisions at the football season opener against UT-El Paso. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died.

UT officially qualified to apply to become a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

The UT System Board of Regents appointed Jay Hartzell as UT’s permanent president.

UT President Jay Hartzell said in a letter that UT would seek guidance from the National Park Service to offer Indigenous remains requested by the Miakan-Garza Band for reburial.

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Austin Public Health reported indications that some COVID-19 case clusters were associated with the football game against UT-El Paso on Sept. 12.

Jay Hartzell announced UT’s plans to create a committee to “chronicle the full history” of “The Eyes of Texas” and finalize the renaming of the Robert Lee Moore building.

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Visualization and Spread Design By CHRISTINA PEEBLES

Student advocates say they faced contention during fight for pass/fail resolution By SAMANTHA GREYSON

@GreysonSamantha

Amid decreased student well-being documented in a Senate of College Councils survey last semester, a UT Student Government COVID-19 pass/ fail resolution was modified and approved by UT President Jay Hartzell, granting students three COVID-19 pass/fails for the 2020-2021 academic school year. In November, SG, the Senate and the Graduate Student Assembly passed a joint pass/fail resolution that would allow students to pass/fail any of their classes for the fall 2020 and spring 2021 semesters. The resolution would also extend the Q-drop period to May 11 for the spring 2021 semester and Dec. 9 for the fall 2020 semester. A Senate student survey that showed students needed academic help during the COVID-19 pandemic backed the resolution as it went to

the Faculty Council for approval, SG representative Caroline Seyer said. Steven Ding, a management information systems and urban studies junior who is also a Senate member, said it garnered over

600 student responses. Additionally, over 10,000 students signed a S e n a t e petition in support of the joint COVID-19 pass/fail resolution. Isaac James, Senate vice president, said when he and other Student Government leaders brought the pass/fail resolution to the Faculty Council in an emergency meeting on Nov. 23, there was great contention. “I haven’t been to (a Faculty Council meeting) that was ever as contentious as the one where we presented the pass/ fail policy,” said James, a government and Plan

II junior. “A lot of faculty believed that because we knew the whole semester was likely to be online, that students should have been prepared.” In response to faculty pushback, James said Student Government leaders presented the results of the Senate survey, showing an overall decrease in mental health, academic health and physical well-being from spring 2020 to the fall 2020 semester. After the Faculty Council passed the resolution on Nov. 23, it passed with modification from the Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost on Nov. 25. Instead of granting pass/ fail options for all classes, Hartzell allowed students to pass/fail three classes across the fall and spring semesters. “The decision … was made by University leadership with recommendations from the Provost’s Office and in consultation with (the) Faculty

Council,” University spokesperson Kathleen Harrison said. “Those recommendations consider a number of factors, such as timing within the academic calendar, resources, staffing and implications for students.”

Government sophomore Leland Murphy, who helped write the joint resolution, said he asked Hartzell about pass/fail legislation in a COVID-19 Town Hall on Nov. 9, and Hartzell said the faculty would decide. Murphy said he did not understand why

Hartzell would then modify the resolution after the Faculty Council approved SG’s original plan. “When the faculty governance votes in favor of it, to see him not respect his word, it’s like, well is this actually a democracy, or are you going to go against what the student body wants (and) what your own faculty and staff wants?” Murphy said. Despite the final decision by Hartzell, Murphy said he was excited to see the student body rally around a common goal. Biology sophomore Seyer, who helped initiate the joint resolution, said she believes the pass/fail options will help students struggling academically, financially and emotionally. “As long as COVID is going on, there should be a lot more academic support for students and trying to empathize with students instead of upholding these really rigorous policies that aren’t really benefiting anyone,” Seyer said.

I haven’t been to (a Faculty Council meeting) that was ever as contentious as the one where we presented the pass/fail policy.” ISAAC JAMES

senate vice president

NOVEMBER 2020

Jay Hartzell announced that a second University staff member died after contracting COVID-19.

Incumbent Republican John Cornyn defeated MJ Hegar to hold on to his US Senate seat. Incumbent Republican Roger Williams won the TX-25 House race against Julie Oliver. Democrat José Garza wonthe Travis County District Attorney race. Chip Roy won the seat for TX-21.

Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election and defeated incumbent President Donald Trump.

Proactive Community Testing participation approached the program’s 5,000 tests per week capacity.

UT System Board of Regents approved a $1.25 million salary for UT President Jay Hartzell.

The UT Faculty Council passed a resolution allowing fall 2020 undergraduate classes to be taken as pass/fail courses and count toward degree requirements.

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illustration by rocky higine

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DECEMBER 2020

UT President Jay Hartzell approved a modified policy allowing students to pass/fail three total classes from the combined fall and spring semesters.

Classics professor Thomas Hubbard filed libel lawsuits against two UT students, claiming they falsely accused him of promoting pedophilia.

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NOVEMBER

UT said it had no plans to make the COVID-19 vaccine a requirement for students.

Thirteen people, including current and former UT students, were arrested and charged with drug trafficking in West Campus.

The FDA authorized Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

UT received just under 3,000 vaccine doses to vaccinate frontline UT health care workers.

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UT student filmmakers weigh the risks of continuing productions during pandemic By THOMAS CASLER @thethomascasler

After only spending one and a half semesters on campus, Max Goldstein’s academic career in film came to a halt last year when the world closed down due to COVID-19. “I feel robbed of my full college experience, which would have been some of the four greatest years of my life (that) are just going to become quarantine,” said Goldstein, a radiotelevision-film sophomore. Since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, the entire film production experience has changed. Hollywood productions continue through rigorous testing and safety guidelines, but student and independent filmmakers have struggled to produce content with low budgets. “Costs have gone up substantially because of liability issues and paying for all the extra protections to shoot,” said Alisa Perren, radio-television-film associate professor. Jack Speer, a radio-

television-film sophomore, has worked on a few shoots since the COVID-19 pandemic began, including a professional music video and other student productions. He said he has struggled with being fully prepared for on-set production because COVID-19 made it difficult to plan with his crew. “We were on set and having to learn what we were doing (on the spot),” Speer said. “And so that difficulty of not having that in-person preproduction time to plan everything out is where I’ve been seeing the biggest problem.” Because film sets are mandating masks during production, Goldstein said he feels like he’s not able to properly communicate with his fellow crew members, which has dissuaded him from joining any productions. “We all have to wear masks, and it’s much harder to pick up on social cues,” Goldstein said. “So I’ve made the choice not to engage in any projects recently.” While other UT filmmakers have been struggling, UT

alumnus David Garcia shot and completed his film “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” a remake of the original horror classic from 1974, thanks to a team of COVID-19 supervisors on set. “There’s a whole team of people that their only job is to keep everyone safe and to keep everything clean and to test everyone, so I don’t have to worry about that,” Garcia said. “I just want to recognize that because of those people, I was able to be creatively free to do what I wanted (and) needed to do.” Even though many filmmakers at UT are struggling to secure a future path, Garcia said there are still productions being made and with the promise of the vaccine, Garcia said things are starting to look better.

“Spend some time self reflecting or working on writing (and) working on planning your next move for when everything opens up,” Garcia said. “Then, you can go out with a new screenplay or with a plan to make a short film or a feature film with your friends. It’s a great time to plan.”

rocky higine

/ the daily texan staff

JANUARY 2021

The FDA authorized Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

UT agreed to dismantle the Campus Climate Response Team as part of a lawsuit settlement that claimed the team violated students’ free speech.

The University fired former head football coach Tom Herman, and Steve Sarkisian was named as his replacement.

Most undergraduate hybrid classes were moved online through January.

The Texas Legislature convened for its 2021 session.

Residence halls opened at 50% capacity after many students canceled their housing contracts in the fall.

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Page Design By MINKA ATKINSON

Class of 2020 feels it’s too late to celebrate graduation By IKRAM MOHAMED & ZOE TZANIS @ikramxmoham @ztzanis

After four years of hard work, UT 2020 alumna Brianna Rodriguez said she saw graduation as “the mountaintop.” Suddenly, that moment was gone. Commencement was canceled. “I went through the anger, the sadness, the denial,” Rodriguez said. “When I landed on the acceptance, I wasn’t happy about it.” In May 2020, following COVID-19 guidelines, UT replaced its in-person commencement with a virtual ceremony. The administration has proposed a makeup in-person ceremony Sept. 17, 2021. However, many recent graduates are unsure if they’ll attend. As the first person in her family to graduate college, Rodriguez said losing an in-person commencement was difficult. “I feel that sense of duty that’s shared by many firstgen students to help younger family members,” she said. “I

knew that I could share my accomplishment of graduating with them.” Rodriguez said she always imagined herself receiving her diploma and seeing her grandmothers cheering in the audience.

There’s a whole sentiment about that entire week (of graduation) ... There’s a finality.” ALEXIS TATUM ut alumna

“The thing that I will regret for the rest of my life is my grandmothers not being able to see me in my cap and gown, holding my diploma,” Rodriguez said. She said both of her grandmothers died in the months following graduation, and she spent the fall mourning

this loss. While Rodriguez said she thinks the proposed in-person commencement is a nice gesture, she’s unsure if she’ll go. “Envisioning myself in a moment that was supposed to be shared with the same people I lost, … that parallel and imagery is really overwhelming,” Rodriguez said. As a first-generation immigrant from Argentina, 2020 graduate Nicolás Requena-Torre said he saw commencement as a celebration he would share with his family who planned to fly in from Argentina. While the September ceremony could give him back that opportunity, Requena-Torre said it’s unlikely he’ll attend. “My goal was to have my family members there,” Requena-Torre said. “Because that’s not going to be possible, because we are still in a pandemic, it doesn’t seem correct.” UT alumna Alexis Tatum, a first-generation college graduate, said she mourns

the loss of graduation season more than the ceremony itself. “There’s a whole sentiment about that entire week (of graduation),” Tatum said. “Getting closure with friends who are moving all around the world, you’re finishing your very last projects for school. There’s a finality.” Tatum said she doesn’t blame UT for how commencement turned out, though she does feel UT could’ve done more for her graduating class.

“The virtual ceremony … wasn’t a live ceremony at all,” Tatum said. “They were prerecorded. Our names rolled across the screen like movie credits. I feel like we got overlooked.” Tatum now works as an internal communications analyst in Dallas-Fort Worth. She said navigating this past year has been difficult, but finding a silver lining has made it more manageable. “Let yourself feel bad about it,” Tatum said. “But don’t let it overtake

you. Find something

to be grateful for, and try to focus on those things.” Tatum said she doesn’t think she’ll be returning for the ceremony in September. She said she feels it’s too late.

“Everybody’s worked really hard to try to get over what we lost and move forward,” Tatum said. “(Returning for the ceremony) feels like opening doors to remembering all the things that should have happened that didn’t.”

illustration by rocky higine

FEBRUARY

/ the daily texan staff

2021

The University began distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to members of the 1B group, which included people 65 and older or 16 and older with underlying health conditions. The University announced plans for in-person commencement ceremonies for the classes of 2021 and 2020 on May 22 and Sept. 17, respectively.

JAN. 19

Texas men’s basketball head coach Shaka Smart tested positive for COVID-19.

Students in West Campus experienced Wi-Fi connectivity issues for multiple weeks, impacting their ability to take online classes.

During his State of the University address, UT President Jay Hartzell said a third UT staff member died of COVID-19. He did not say when the death occurred or the name of the staff member.

The first two cases of the B.1.1.7 variant of COVID-19 from the United Kingdom were reported at UT.

UT announced that faculty will be required to be in residence to teach for the fall 2021 semester.

JAN. 25

FEBRUARY

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Page Design By MINKA ATKINSON

CONFRONTING HISTORY How UT’s denial to remove “The Eyes of Texas” alma mater impacted Black students.

By SKYE SEIPP @seippetc

“

he Eyes of Texas” took a national spotlight this year as students called for its removal due to its racist origins. But the song’s history is something Earl Potts Jr. said he has grappled with since his freshman orientation in 2018. “Before I even became a freshman on campus, I’m already feeling alienated by a school song that they’re forcing us all to sing and me knowing the recent history,” said Potts, a computer science and African and African diaspora studies junior. The song debuted at a minstrel show, which typically featured white performers in blackface, on May 12, 1903, according to a report released Tuesday by The Eyes of Texas History Committee, which was appointed by the University to study and document the song’s history in October 2020. In summer 2020, then-Interim President Jay Hartzell said the song would remain the alma mater. However, many Black students said they continue to feel excluded even after the report said there was “no racist intent.” Potts said even if the song is “not

overtly racist,” as the report said, it still makes thousands of students uncomfortable. “It’s (not) the University’s place to reclaim something that they’re the offenders (of), not the offended,” Potts said. In the wake of the Black Lives Matter protests last summer and the police killings of George Floyd, Michael Ramos, Breonna Taylor and more, students and athletes at UT demanded the song be removed due to its racist history. The Longhorn Band was unable to play the song in the fall due to a lack of band members willing to participate following the protests. By September, a student-led movement called Rewrite Not Reclaim demanded the University to drop the alma mater. Connor O’Neill, who is white and does public relations for the movement, said despite Hartzell’s decision, the group will continue advocating for the song’s removal and plans to get new students involved to keep the University accountable. O’Neill, a Plan II and government senior, said the report felt like it was undermining the work of students to remove the song by saying there was “no racist intent,” even though it debuted at a minstrel show. At the beginning of March, The Texas Tribune released emails to the University

eddie gaspar

/ the daily texan file

A University of Texas football game at Darrell K Royal Memorial Stadium in Austin on Sept. 7, 2019.

from donors who threatened to pull funding if the song was removed. Some of the emails included racist rhetoric and said that because Black students make up 4% of the student population, their opinions should not be heavily considered. In addition, athletic officials told football players they had to stay on the field during the song to appease donors, according to The

Texas Tribune. Potts said seeing the “overt racism” in some of the emails affected him because they were sent by “real people.” He said he will have to wonder who thinks he should “live in another state” if he’s ever at alumni networking events. The report documenting the

MARCH 2021

Winter Storm Uri caused power and water outages for most of the state. UT canceled classes for over a week.

The UT System Board of Regents offered new head football coach Steve Sarkisian a $34.2 million, six-year deal.

University admissions announced it will not require ACT or SAT scores for fall 2022 undergraduate applicants.

The FDA authorized Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use.

Thousands of ineligible individuals requested COVID-19 vaccine appointments through a false scheduling link, causing hours-long lines at Gregory Gym.

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MARCH 1

history and use of the song listed 40 r e c o m m e n d a t i o n s for the University to best communicate its history and the next steps moving forward. Richard Reddick, chair of the history committee, said the report’s release is just the start of the conversation. Reddick, associate dean for equity, community engagement and outreach for the College of Education, said the

conclusion of “no racist intent” drawn by the committee was “their best understanding” of the primary source documents used to understand what the author was trying to accomplish in writing the song. He said the report is simply information and is not telling people how they should feel about the song. The recommendations are the next steps to address students who feel alienated, he said.

eddie gaspar

/ the daily texan file

The Longhorn Band waits to take the field before the Longhorns’ season opener against Louisiana Tech on Aug. 31, 2019. illustrations by sylvia asuncion crabb

Gov. Greg Abbott announced that starting March 10, businesses could open to 100% capacity and the mask mandate would end.

MARCH 2

“I want every student to feel welcomed and included,” Reddick said. “We can start that process by looking at those 40 recommendations as … launching points … The history really helps to contextualize and clarify conceptions.” Psychology sophomore Jarielle Afolabi-Craige said the song is still offensive because of its connections to minstrel shows and being set to the tune of “I’ve Been Working on

the Railroad,” which was a popular minstrel show tune. She said she does not expect the song to change because the University does not want to lose donor money. “(The song) doesn’t have any place on campus, and if Hartzell says this is a diverse and inclusive campus and he wanted students of color to feel comfortable … he wouldn’t keep the song,” Afolabi-Craige said.

josh guenther

/ the daily texan file

At McLane Stadium in Waco, Texas, the Longhorn Band performs while the Longhorns play Baylor on Nov. 23, 2019.

/ the daily texan staff

Austin City Council announced that the mask mandate will remain in effect until further notice for the city of Austin. The Eyes of Texas History Committee found that UT’s alma mater was written in a “racist setting” but is not “overtly racist.”

Austin Police officer Christopher Taylor was charged with the murder of Michael Ramos.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued Austin because the city refused to lift local mask mandates.

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The people that made it happen The Daily Texan staff from spring 2020 to now. Current paid staffers and volunteer staffers who worked on this issue

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Lauren Castro Lauren Girgis Lauren Goodman Lauren Womack Laurie Grobe Lawson Freeman Lea Cantú Leah De La Rosa Leni Steinhardt Leslie Tang Lesly A. Reza Olguin Lily Dayanim Lily Kane Lisa Nhan Lorena Chiles Luke Casola Macey Pieterse Madi Margulies Madison Goodrich Madison Johnson Madison Morris Mae Hutchison Maggie Lazaroski Maia Borchardt Makenna Jonker Mantra Dave Marcus Krum Marcy Lara Margaret Butler Maria Fernanda Oribio Ruiz Maria Perez Maria Sailale Maria Serrano Marian Navarro Marisa Huerta Marissa Xiong Mary Monk Mary Orms Mateo Macias Matthew Boncosky Matthew Posey Mauricio Aguilar Maya Harwood Maya Martinez Maya Wray Mckenna Lucas Meara Isenberg Meena Anderson Megan Clarke Megan Fletcher Megan Menchaca Megan Shankle Megan Tran Meghan Nguyen Melissa Cortes Santiago Meredith Bowden Meredith Miller Michael Byrd Michael Hernandez Mikaela Medina Mikayla Mondragon Miller Filla Mindy Van Minka Atkinson Miranda Cazares Miranda Garza Morgan Pace

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