Reporting Texas
News and features from UT-Austin's School of Journalism
byAlex Lamb
In April 2024, state and local police cracked down on University of Texas students protesting Israel’s invasion of Gaza, following calls for intervention by university administrators. As with protests on other college campuses, university and political leaders accused the pro-Palestinian protesters of antisemitism.
Almost a year later, one of the same groups involved in those protests, the Austin Chapter of Students for a Democratic Society, took part in another protest — this time to oppose the presence of alleged neo-Nazis and eugenicists at a conference held on the UT campus. The activists highlighted what they called a disconnect between the treatment of two groups accused of connections to antisemitic views
byMadeline De Figueiredo
Hundreds gathered in front of the Texas Capitol for a “Stand Up to Science” rally Friday, demanding the defense of scientific integrity, expanded funding and the protection of diversity in research. The rally, one of 32 in cities across the country, was organized in response to the Trump administration’s cuts to scientific funding, the removal […]
byMeredith McKelvey
As protests erupted in state capitals around the country Wednesday, hundreds of protesters marched through downtown Austin to voice their anger at the Trump administration.
Enraged by President Donald Trump’s far-reaching actions during the first two weeks of his second term, protesters waved signs and chanted in unison at the Texas Capitol and on the streets of downtown Austin. While protesters had varied reasons for demonstrating against the Trump administration, they shared a common fear: the demise of democratic institutions in the United States.
“At some point, you can only step on people’s necks for so long,” said Benny de la Vega, an American who immigrated from the Philippines in 1985 and said he is seeing similarities to the dictatorship he fled. “At some point, everyone will have a common, shared understanding that their rights are being taken away. When we lose representation, then things need to change.”
byAlex Lamb
Although she lost the presidential election to Donald Trump, Kamala Harris won majority support from voters living in and around the University of Texas at Austin. In the five precincts surrounding UT, Harris’ support ranged from 55% to 68%, and she earned more votes than Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020. Trump […]