UT

Nahuatl, Indigenous Language of Mexico, Leaves UT Students with Another World View

byMaria Probert

Soft strums from a wooden guitar and the smell of warm tamales and green salsa that flowed together like a warm hug filled the air of Benedict Hall. About 35 students and faculty gathered at the teachers’ lounge at the University of Texas to listen to Crispin Martinez Rosas, who goes by the artistic name […]

Just Call Me By My Name: UT Students Reflect on Their Identity

byJennifer Errico

A name is the first glimpse into a person’s character. It, too, is one’s brand.

Names correlate with self-worth, personality and status. According to author Ralph Ellison, it is through our names how we first place ourselves in this world.

Three University of Texas at Austin students share how their names shaped their identities, often not without struggle.

How a UT-Austin Program is Helping Students of Color Study Abroad 

byCristela Jones

During the 2017-18 academic year, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, about 11% of all U.S. college students studied abroad, according to reporting from Inside Higher Ed. Of those who studied abroad, Black students comprised 5.5%, Hispanic students 10.6% and Asian students 8.6%, while white students accounted for 70%, according to data from the Association of International Educators. 

About 4.7% of Black UT-Austin students studied abroad in the 2018-19 school year, Heather Thompson, director of the university’s education abroad department, told Reporting Texas. Among all UT-Austin students, about 8.5% study abroad annually.

The Global Leadership Program is helping to change the way students of color study abroad at UT by recruiting students of color and first-generation college students, offering study-abroad scholarships and building leadership programs for student success.

Gender Gap Among STEM Faculty at UT Proves Difficult to Eradicate

byEniola Longe

At UT-Austin, women make up 45% of the total faculty, but a much smaller percentage in STEM majors. The departments of aerospace engineering and engineering mechanics, electrical and computer engineering, geosciences, mechanical engineering and physics all have less than 20% female faculty.

Longhorn Women’s Basketball Greats Return to Say Goodbye to Erwin Center

byBrandon Jenkins

Some of the pioneers of Texas women’s basketball came to the Frank Erwin Center to say goodbye one final time to the home of the Longhorns for the past 46 years

Texas College Republicans Secede from National Organization Because of ‘Rigged’ Election

byAndrew Logan

A group of College Republicans say they accepted the results of the 2020 presidential election, but they did not acknowledge the outcome of their organization’s own recent national election.
On Aug. 16, the Texas Federation of College Republicans seceded by unanimous consent from the College Republican National Committee because the Texas College Republicans claimed the election for CRNC chair was fraudulent.

The CRNC is the national organization for the College Republicans. It is composed of all the state federations and claims to have more than 250,000 members across the country with a presence on almost 2,000 college campuses.

Long Underrepresented and Overlooked, Native American and Indigenous Students Are Getting Texas Colleges’ Attention

byPaula Levihn-Coon

As UT has become more diverse with increasing numbers of Black and Hispanic students, its enrollment of Native American and Indigenous students has dropped.

UT Alerts Questioned After More Gun Violence

byKevin Malcolm Jr.

UT has a policy to send alerts via email and/or text when a crime has been reported and there is an ongoing threat to campus.

UT’s Black Faculty Numbers Are Up — But Just Barely

byEniola Longe

Five years after Reporting Texas detailed a disproportionately low number of Black faculty members at the University of Texas at Austin, the situation has barely improved. In 2016, 3.6% of UT-Austin professors were Black. In 2020, that number had only risen to 4.1%, about 156 of close to 3,800 faculty members, according to university data. And UT-Austin is not alone among Texas colleges in lacking Black faculty.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Magical Realism

byCésar Pérez

The morning Gabriel Garcia Marquez received news of him winning the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature, his son Rodrigo captured the moment in a black and white. Four decades later, the photograph hangs on a wall as part of an exhibition honoring his colorful work at the University of Texas at Austin Gabriel Garcia Marquez […]

After Century of Publishing Amid Political Turmoil, Ecuadorian Newspaper Eyes Next 100 Years

byCesar Perez

At the entrance to one of the country’s largest newspapers, El Universo’s first printing press stands as a monument to victory in Ecuador’s struggle to hold onto a fragile democracy marked by a history of military dictatorships and censorship.

The newspaper’s history includes a government-ordered shutdown for a cartoon, editorial board members jailed, a forced front-page apology, violent demonstrations, a bombing of its building and even a presidential lawsuit seeking the imprisonment of its journalists.

UT’s William Wayne Justice Center Encourages Students to Enter Public Interest Law

byHailin Zhang

Jane, one of millions of Texans living below the poverty level, needs a lawyer but cannot afford to pay for one. Fortunately, she’s part of the approximately 5.2 million who qualify for legal aid. So she has a couple of options. She could get help from an organization like Texas RioGrande Legal Aid, which serves […]