I have avoided posting on this topic because frankly neither side in the debate has exactly covered themselves in glory. There are some things my fellow posters have said that are unfortunate in the extreme and hopefully calmer heads can now prevail. There were always parts of what was asked for by the players that I was fine with and parts I wasn't. I could distinguish between the two without having to take an extreme all or nothing position, I am glad the University looks to have done the same and given on some but not others. I have two degrees from this institution and care deeply about it. I sang the Eyes of Texas to both my kids just minutes after they were born and I love taking them down to Austin and to the campus. I will continue to sing the Eyes of Texas with the same pride as I did my first time because to me it is a clarion call to go out and make the world a better place because the eyes of my institution and my state are upon me.
As I look at each of the specific changes to be made, I am more than OK with them. Some were long overdue and it is unfortunate it took the events of the past few months to finally bring them about. As a law alum it was disappointing to me that there wasn't something already on Sweatt v Painter. Almost like the law school wanted to pretend that UT wasn't involved in that ground breaking case. A good question for us long time alums (I am class of '95) is why didn't we already have some acknowledgement and why did it take these events for us to finally put up a statue of Heman Sweatt and clearly acknowledge that case and Heman Sweatt's contributions to our law school.
As for the name change for RLM, look him up (google is your friend) he was a despicable human being and we should all no more want his name on a building than we would want the Charles Manson psychology building or Jeffrey Dahmer Biology Building. Acknowledging history is just as important as preserving it and our homage to the Confederacy on the south mall was always something I gave side eye to in my time as a student. I get why to African American students it was a big middle finger to them and why it needed to be removed.
I also think a statue of Whittier at the stadium is a great idea. A better question is why didnt we already have a statue of Whittier. Why wasn't there already some acknowledgement in the hall of fame that he broke an extraordinary barrier and that UT is better for it. You cant pretend away our history of all white football teams until 19 freaking 70. Same thing with other African American athletes who broke the color barriers down for other UT sports. This is UT sports history warts and all and acknowledging it and saying that we have learned and will learn from that history is important.
Finally, Joe Jamail has his name on about 20 other things on campus so naming the field for the two Heisman winners is cool and will make for an awesome ceremony if not this fall then next (because at this point we really are not very likely to have fans at games or any games at all).
My sincere hope is that this begins to put all this behind us and we can make these changes and move forward. The Eyes of Texas are on all of us to be better human beings, be the ones who make this a better state, better country, better world.
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