Strong Donor Influence over UT Austin

This morning I saw my university was on Spectrum news, and I should have known it was bad. I don’t know my initial emotion was excitement when it should have been dread. After all, most of the time when my university was being covered by local journalists, it was because of something we had done wrong, not right.
As a student from the University of Texas at Austin it’s not hard to see where UT President Greg Fenves’s loyalties lie. As a stranger looking in I’ll give you a hint, it’s not with his students. Although last year was my first year on campus it wasn’t hard to notice that the students interests and those who run the school are misaligned.
Hundreds of students protested their concerns about institutionalized racism, sexism, homophobia, and other injustices that made them feel unsafe on campus; and rarely was there physical administrative action beyond sending a massive public email condemning said injustices.
Multiple protests happened during the 2016–2017 year where students tried to bring attention to others who wanted to make them feel unsafe and unimportant on campus, but all they would hear from the UT administration was a general condemning of any such offensive actions.
When the Young Conservatives of America held a bake sale selling baked goods based on how much a student’s tuition was based on race trying to demonstrate their interpretation of the mechanics of Affirmative Action; the Native Americans got free baked goods. This sparked outrage in the UT community and in less than an hour of their demonstration, they were surrounded by dozens of students who wanted to challenge their ideology. A few days after the event, the organization’s attorneys contacted Fenves and threatened to take legal action if their group was disbanded.
Another case was after the election of President Trump when there were multiple posters stapled around the campus warning students to beware of Black people and even some participants went as far as to spray paint the N word on utility boxes. There were similar remarks made about Muslims and immigrants after a protest against the travel ban and border wall idea.
The last instance was earlier this morning when UT was featured on Spectrum News about a student’s attempt to sue Fenves for the unjust sentencing of a five semester suspension based on false accusations of non-consensual sex.
It’s not a new fact that monetary donors at UT have major influences, after all, Red McCombs name is everywhere on campus. But when does the importance of monetary donations and funding begin to cross a line?
There were many times when President Fenves tried to express that he cared about the very students he was supposed to be working for, but in the end of every one of his attempts he failed.
He had scheduled public conferences with students who wanted their voices to be heard, but because of the students pent up anger and frustrations and Fenves inability to empathize he would end up shutting down these events early or sending out an email that expressed his condolences to those who were afflicted and condemned offensive actions on Longhorn grounds but never physically addressed the presented issues.
It’s at that point where President Fenves doesn’t represent the school, but represents the donors who support UT. Our slogan is, “What starts here, changes the world” but his actions suggest otherwise; it hinders change.
I honestly wonder what the students have that donors don’t have control over. . . They have our president who’s supposed to be supporting the students and point them towards their degree, they run our football team, they own the individual colleges within the university, etc.
If the president of UT Austin has become a mouthpiece for the public and private donors of the school, who’s the voice for the students? Who’s going to make sure they feel safe on campus?
I’ve asked myself these kinds of questions over and over again, and a part of me knows the answer; the students like me. But another part of me thinks that people like me can’t make the changes that want to be seen on campus. Permanent changes that will continue for decades. Maybe if there’s enough of us willing to participate in protests relentlessly and voice our concerns until it begins to look like harassment, then just maybe. . .
However, is that something I’m willing to commit to?
