Losing football games at the University of Texas is one thing. One challenge for the Holy School song is quite another.
The controversy over “The Eyes Eyes” in Texas has been going on for weeks now, with some players refusing to sing it after the games or giving it links to racist pieces of its race. Just this week, the highly respected Longhorn band refused to play a song that dates back to the early 1900s.
The administration insists that the song, one of the school’s most valuable traditions, is possible, although players or student musicians are likely to be ordered to support it.
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“The purpose of ‘Eyes of Texas’ is to express something – school spirit, loyalty, unity,” said David Anderson, an Emirates professor of law at the University of Texas. “But knowingly not standing still, or leaving the field is definitely a statement. That speech is safe. “
Written in 1903 and sung to the tune of “I’m working on the railroad”, the song is an ancient standard in the Longhorns country. For decades, she has sung after sports and graduation ceremonies and is a popular singer. Even at weddings and funerals
The song has been a sore topic for minority students for decades. The title is derived from a quote from the pre-school president who was nominated by Confederate General Robert E. Copied comment by Lee. The song was regularly performed by musicians in blackface at the Mystal Show.
Amid racially unjust protests that shook the nation this year, Texas athletes were the college’s most famous players to join the post-George Performance parade. They first marched from campus to the state capital with coach Tom Herman, then a group of students and athletes demanded the school drop “Texas Eyes”.
Letter to the school president, athletic director and board of regents who wanted to keep the song. Some urged thoughtful consideration. Others rejected the demands of “agitators” and “whiners who just want to get in trouble.”
Texas officials kept the song, but told players they would not need to sing the song. A special committee was formed to study and present its complete history.
But the issue flared up again when the football team did not stay on the field for the song after the first two home games this season. Fans were outraged when most of the players left the field again after the annual Texas-Oklahoma game in Dallas.
That’s why Athletic Director Chris Dale Conte said last week that he expects Longhorn’s teams to “stand together and stand out” during the song. He met with the football team to discuss it.
Tyler Walleska of Cornell Law School’s First Amendment Clinic said Texas players would be limited in any effort to force a song they don’t support to sing or stay on the field.
“It’s irrelevant whether the general public doesn’t find it controversial. One of the values that secures the First Amendment is dissent, ”Waleska said. “We don’t want the government to tell people what is something for them when and for what reasons.”
The Daily Texan Campus newspaper reported Wednesday that a large number of members of the Longhorn band now refuse to play the song. Band director Scott Hannah did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The band was not selected to play during this week’s home game against Baylor, the school said; Even without the band, Texas President Jay Hartzel said “The Eyes of Texas” will still be played at games and events, while the school is looking for ways to connect “around our song,” which has been positive for a long time, much longer than Longhorn. The last 120 years. “
Board of Regents Chairman Kevin Eltif took his support on Thursday.
“To clarify, the UT System Board of Regents, President Hartzel’s declaration that Texas has Eyes, and that it is and will remain the official school anthem, stands unanimously and unanimously in support,” Altif said.
Tasha Philpote, a government professor at the school’s Center for African and African American Studies, said the administration’s messages are confusing and put pressure on athletes who were told a few months ago that they did not need to participate.
“So they gave a lot of agency that they haven’t experienced before,” Philpott said. “Now, coming back and telling them not to use noise is almost a way to calm them down.”
Hermann Herman, the football coach and Valey Leib .Leach coach Jarrett Elliott insisted this week that there was no order for athletes to participate.
“When you’re a young person, when you want to stand up for something, dig your feet on the ground too early and say this is my attitude” is really easy. “The biggest mistake I can make as a leader is going there and saying, ‘We will give this order.’
Black’s football player, Tak’n Graham, said he did not believe his teammates were concerned about his position on the team based on his support of the song. He plans to be on the field for the song on Saturday.
“I’m going to support my teammates, and I want to thank the fans, because they deserve it,” Graham said. And that’s all I can say. I can’t speak for everyone else. ”
Quarterback Sam Ehlinger, who is white, said he has told his teammates why the song is important to him. Ehlinger and Graham, the only two players to meet with reporters this week, said the issue did not make the team.
“I grew up in Longhorn,” Ehlinger said. I won ‘The Eyes of Texas’, sang the song of losing or drawing, and shared my experience with my family and I shared that experience with my (late) dad. Singing that song once didn’t feel anything negative in my mind. “
It takes courage to stand up to a school as big and powerful as Texas, ”said Jesse Chopra, a former dean and professor at the University of California-Berkeley Law School. He compared her to kneeling during the national anthem with former NFL quarterback Colin Kepernick.
“It costs him a lot. He is still trying to recover his career, ”Chopra said. “You have to find someone with a lot of courage.”
