UT-Austin footballers say donors’ anger leads to Eyes of Texas mandate

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University of Texas sports officials told Longhorn football players in October that they should stay on the field after “The Eyes of Texas” with fans because donors were upset by athletes protesting against the tradition. on the day of the game, two Longhorn football players told the Texas Tribune.

Previously, some student athletes chose not to participate after several games, as the song had become a hot spot during the summer – especially for black student athletes – given the historical links of the alma mater song to the juggling performances on campus.

The footballers said athletics officials, in a meeting with players after the Oklahoma game, referred to emails from donors who said the protests could impact their job prospects after graduation. At least one more player, former defensive end Caden Sterns, made a similar statement in a tweet Monday, but refused to be interviewed.

“They said you shouldn’t sing it. But you have to stay on the field. You have to go there and at least show them the appreciation of the fans to go out and see how you play, ”said DeMarvion Overshown, junior linebacker in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

Sports director Chris Del Conte said on Wednesday that he had not heard that donors or graduates had threatened employment opportunities, adding that he was concerned that players had that impression. He denied that the players would be obliged to stay on the field.

“I simply asked them for help – no one was forced or forced to do so,” he said in a statement.

But the players said the mandate showed them that university officials had given priority to donor wishes over team members, some of whom were vocal opposition members over the summer and fell in love with rejecting the song.

“It was really eye-opening,” Overshown said. “These are powerful people who come to see you play and can keep you from getting a job in Texas. It was shocking that they said that. To this day, I’m still thinking about that moment. They really used it as a threat to make us try to do what they wanted us to do. ”

A second player, who was on the team in the 2020 season, shared a similar recollection of the meeting with the Tribune. The player asked not to be named, for fear of being paid by the university and donors. He said Del Conte told players that donors are unhappy and threaten to receive financial support.

“He went on to say that these guys are offering you this. … He mentioned: “We have donors talking about withdrawing money from the southern area [stadium addition project], stopping their donations “, said the second player.

Overshown declined to name sports officials, but the second player said former head coach Tom Herman and Del Conte conveyed the feelings of the donors.

Del Conte denied making such a statement or that the donors had made such comments.

“I never said that, nor would I say that to a student-athlete, and I never heard it from any donor or graduate. My message was constantly about unity. I’m disappointed if anything else told our student-athletes made them feel that way. That concerns me, “he said in an e-mailed statement. “I have talked to several student-athletes about this and I am happy to talk to anyone to inform them that this is not true. We only saw our graduates working to support our student-athletes. ”

Herman, who left the university after being fired in January, could not be reached for comment.

The Dallas Morning News previously reported that students were told to stay on the field for “Eyes” at the meeting with Del Conte and Herman after the game in Oklahoma, when former defender Sam Ehlinger made headlines to stay alone on the field during the post-tradition game. when players usually sing the alma mater song with the fans.

At the time, Del Conte said he was clarifying his expectations of the players.

“I want to clarify that we have had many conversations with our coaches, emphasizing my expectations for our teams to show appreciation for our university, fans and supporters, standing together as a unified group for ‘Eyes’ as we work through this issue.” Del Conte wrote in his weekly message to fans since then.

Sterns, the former defensive defender, wrote on Twitter that the donors threatened the future prospects of the players.

“My teammates and I were threatened by some graduates that we would have to find jobs outside of Texas if we didn’t participate.” he wrote.

Sterns declined to comment on the article, saying he is focusing on the NFL project.

“I have nothing but love for UT and Texas, I just want to help make it a better place as much as I can,” he told the Tribune in a direct message on Twitter.

His tweet was a response to a Tribune article that revealed that at least 75 graduates and donors had sent emails to UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell, threatening to receive financial support if the university got rid of the “Eyes of Texas” .

The song has been the center of a firestorm since last summer, when athletes and students called the school to stop singing after games. The song – played “I Worked on the Railroad” – has historically been performed on campus juggling shows, and the title is linked to a saying by Confederate Army Commander Robert E. Lee.

Overshown, who was among the most sincere players, briefly boycotted the team’s practice in early July, but returned after UT-Austin announced a series of changes in response to calls from students about improving racial equality on campus.

E-mails obtained by Tribune in a request for public recordings showed that many graduates, donors and fans were outraged by the images of Ehlinger alone after the Oklahoma game for the postgame song. The rest of the team had withdrawn from the field. (Ehlinger later said he lingers alone on the field to talk to coaches.)

“The images I see on Sam Ehlinger’s social networks sitting alone after the match with the horns to the battle song made me sick,” a person who identified himself as a 25-year-old subscription holder wrote to Hartzell. Their name was drafted by UT-Austin, citing laws on open registrations that protect certain donor identities.

“These young people came to the university knowing very well what was expected of them ….. one of these things was ALWAYS the respect of the university and its traditions. Love or leave. How dare they accept scholarships and not respect this university with their pettiness … ”

Several e-mails sent to the president from June to the end of October insisted that university officials be penalizing students who violated the tradition.

“Tell ‘students’ they don’t want to play, they’re out of the band and let the others sing,” Linden R. Welsch, a 1969 class, wrote to Hartzell after it was announced that the Longhorn Band would not play alma mater. after the football match against Baylor University. “This is the same problem you have with the football team. You let the detainees run the asylum. Let political correctness / social justice or anything else take over and you lose control. It is stupid and demonstrates a total lack of leadership. ”

Welsch, whom Alcalde graduate magazine calls a Life Member donor, told the Tribune that the e-mail summed up his concerns and had no further comment.

On Tuesday morning, Hartzell issued a statement in response to the Tribune article on donor e-mails.

“People who target our students with hateful views do not represent the values ​​of the Longhorn community,” he said. “Some extremist views in the sample of e-mails reported by the Texas Tribune do not speak for the 540,000 proud Longhorn graduates who actively support our students and our university. Of the many emails I received this fall, a very small number included really nasty and hateful comments. I categorically reject them and have no influence on any aspect of our decision-making process. ”

“Just because we don’t all agree with our school song doesn’t mean we don’t all belong.”

Of the 300 emails sent to the president’s office between June and October, only 11 explicitly urged Hartzell to drop out of singing school. About 70% pleaded and asked for the song to remain. The rest did not express their opinion to remove or keep the song.

UT-Austin Senior Connor O’Neill, co-director of the Longhorn Athletic Agency, a group that provides a voice for student students in the student government, said student leaders were largely dissatisfied with Hartzell’s statement.

“President Hartzell basically said that these are just a few thousand fans, but the problem is that you know that these few people are the ones with the most power,” he said. “They are the donors who give millions of dollars and the ones who say ‘shut up and dribble.'”

Hartzell said the Eyes of Texas History Committee, which was organized to study the history of the song, will publish its report next week. He said the university community can continue the conversation about the song when it is “equipped with a common set of facts.”

Two weeks after the team’s meeting last October, the Texas Longhorns played at Baylor University in Austin and won. After the game, the entire team headed to the fan section to listen while an audio recording of “Eyes of Texas” was recorded. The Longhorn Band could not find enough members to play the necessary instruments, another controversy that sparked another wave of emails from angry donors.

For Overshown, the lead on the field after Baylor was another moment of clarity.

“It made me realize what money they’re going to make people do here,” Overshown said. “The fact that someone said they turned their backs on us 100%, but it’s still about money, donors and what they want, then it’s a whole other story.”

As he sang, he got on one knee.

Disclosure: The University of Texas at Austin and Baylor University were financial backers of The Texas Tribune, a non-profit, non-partisan news organization funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial backers play no role in Tribune journalism. Find a complete list of them here.