From the AAS, a nice story about Title 9's impact on Texas athletics. I still wonder why we don't have gymnastics now although I understand it didn't make the cut initially with rowing taking the final spot instead. https://www.hookem.com/story/twenty-five-years-later-texas-still-shining-light-title-ix/
So a story about UT's gymnastics club team. https://www.hookem.com/story/title-ix-lawsuit-casualty-gymnastics-program-success-texas/
If we had a gymnastics team someone we might have luck recruiting is Amari Drayton. Earlier this summer at the National Junior Olympics she won a gold medal in the All Around Event. I believe her dad is Stan Drayton, the Associate Head Coach of UT Football.
Not sure if this was part of the decision regarding gymnastics, but most female gymnasts peak before they graduate from high school. College gymnastics for women is an afterthought. I think the participant numbers that rowing could provide at a relatively low cost was also relevant.
Considering how many people attend sessions(?), meets (?) at the top schools, the fact that female gymnasts supposedly peak before graduating from high school doesn't seem to deter people from coming out to see them. I have not doubt that Texas could be among the leaders in attendance if the university had decided to pursue gymnastics as a sport. Wouldn't surprise me if they had outdrawn both the men and women's BB teams in their heyday.