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The University of Texas at Austin released a plan for the fall semester that includes online, hybrid and in-person courses and mandatory masks, among other measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
<p>"Today's plan provides a framework for the fall that is designed to accommodate the dynamic environment we're facing and enable us to adapt to changes in the prevalence of COVID-19 in Austin and throughout Texas," Interim President Jay Hartzell said in the statement. "And I know that things are changing every day."</p><p><a href="https://president.utexas.edu/messages-speeches-2020/fall-2020-reopening-plans" target="_blank"><u>The plans for the semester</u></a>, which will start August 26, include the following:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Classes will be online, in-person, or a hybrid, but they will all have the same tuition rates. </li><li>Students may take the full semester online. </li><li>In-person courses will end November 25, before Thanksgiving. After that, students will mostly stay off-campus and take finals online from December 7 to 16. </li><li>Classes will take place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with a 40% cap on capacity in each classroom. </li><li>Many hybrid and in-person courses will be streamed or recorded for students who become ill or need to self-isolate to continue their course progress. </li></ul><p>The plan was released shortly after a meeting of the UT System Board of Regents concluded. Speaking during the meeting, Chancellor James Milliken emphasized the importance of students continuing their education instead of taking time off. </p><p>"We know from student surveys that if we do not open, many students will choose to pause their education, and we know from research that pausing has an impact on persistence and graduation," Milliken said. "The most vulnerable students, low-income, first-generation and underrepresented students, will be at the greatest risk of falling off the path to success."</p><p>UT Austin's reopening plan also included stipulations for health and wellness pertaining to university buildings and residence halls. Masks will be required at all times when in campus buildings, except when alone in a private office, alone in a dorm room with a roommate, eating and drinking in dining facilities, and in other cases approved under the American's with Disabilities Act or for religious reasons. </p><p>The university is still developing plans for hosting football games and other athletic events in the fall in accordance with state, local and Big 12 Conference guidelines. </p>
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(Longhorn Network)
Former University of Texas football player Emmanual Acho said in a TV interview that some of the statues on the Austin campus "just have to go," and some buildings need to be renamed in order to address historical racism.
<p>"Some things are clear-cut and simple," Acho said in a preview of an interview that the Longhorn Network posted on Twitter. "Are the statues that we have on campus, are they who we want our students to emulate?"<br/></p>
<div id="ff42c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1ae70cf8cc98d90cc05188c300e6a193"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1276203248441909249" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">"We have to ask ourselves... Are the statues that we have on campus, are they who we want our students to emulate?"… https://t.co/NsFpE0lfGN</div> — Longhorn Network (@Longhorn Network)<a href="https://twitter.com/LonghornNetwork/statuses/1276203248441909249">1593105539.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Acho's comments follow a list of requests issued by a group of UT athletes that asked the school to replace the song "Eyes of Texas," rename several buildings and make other changes to create a "more inclusive" campus. The athletes have seen support, but <a href="https://austonia.com/education/ut-athletics" target="_self">also faced resistance from fans</a>.</p>
<p>Acho recently launched a popular video series, "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man," that has included <a href="https://austonia.com/media/matthew-mcconaughey-talks-to-former-longhorn-emmanuel-acho-in-uncomfortable-conversations-with-a-black-man" target="_blank">talks with Matthew McConaughey</a> and Chip and Joanna Gaines.</p>
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(staff/Austonia)
The University of Texas at Austin joined a number of Texas universities that are making standardized tests optional for their application process through 2021.
<p>"This change will allow the university to better serve potential students by ensuring that testing limitations related to COVID-19 do not affect a student's ability to apply," according to a <a href="https://news.utexas.edu/2020/06/23/ut-austin-will-temporarily-change-standardized-test-score-requirement/" target="_blank">statement from the university</a>. </p><p><a href="https://www.baylor.edu/mediacommunications/news.php?action=story&story=218777" target="_blank">Baylor University</a>, <a href="https://admissions.tcu.edu/frogblog/posts/2020/temporarily-test-optional.php" target="_blank">Texas Christian University</a> and <a href="https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/05/29/smu-waives-act-sat-score-requirements-admission-coronavirus/" target="_blank">Southern Methodist University</a> were among other schools that announced in April and May that their 2021 application cycle would be test-optional.</p><p>Students may still include scores on their applications, but it is not required. </p>
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Athletes asking University of Texas to address history of racism on campus face resistance from fans
17 June
(kennytong/Adobe)
The dozens of University of Texas athletes who called for the school and athletics department to address a history of racism faced immediate backlash on social media.
<p><strong></strong>While many students and alumni tweeted in solidarity last week, other fans and alumni strongly opposed their requests, suggesting they transfer schools and calling their requests "blackmail."</p><div id="c46b7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="580b1c6ec2e89a42915123f8bfd1e324"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1271581774536224768" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@MarqezBimage_ @TexasLonghorns Much easier to just replace the players. it works like blackmailing and ridiculous d… https://t.co/WRZ0hQVDQq</div> — lian (@lian)<a href="https://twitter.com/fang_zu/statuses/1271581774536224768">1592003694.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>A major point of contention was the athletes' request to scrap the school song "The Eyes of Texas," which they are required to sing at athletic events. The song was first performed by a group of students in 1903, UT Vice Provost for Diversity Edmund Gordon said.</p><p>"The Varsity Quartet performed it in a minstrel show at the Hancock Opera House, and the assumption, because it was a minstrel show and they were minstrel performers, is that it was performed in blackface."</p><div id="4028f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6d7e0defa1fdaac6b5499d7834620269"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1271532674038071301" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@BDavisAAS The eyes of texas is not racist. I mean come on people. We have to change for sure. I agree we should ad… https://t.co/wqRARBYbnS</div> — Orren Lilly (@Orren Lilly)<a href="https://twitter.com/orrenlilly/statuses/1271532674038071301">1591991988.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Soon after, "The Eyes of Texas" was adopted as the university's school song, Gordon said. The words are a deviation of "The eyes of the South are upon you," a phrase often used by Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army.</p><div id="e067e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5596846049e34ade83230b9b7cc9152b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1271563348287664129" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@given__talent @TexasLonghorns Wow. .. . okay. .maybe I'll have to take my Horns Down after this BS.</div> — Blondie (@Blondie)<a href="https://twitter.com/longhornblondie/statuses/1271563348287664129">1591999301.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"I think that a lot of people have a hard time dealing with the history of the country, the history of the state of Texas and the history of the University of Texas and would like to wish that away," Gordon said. "As a university, we need to be critically engaged and knowledgeable about our history."</p>
<p>Gordon said there can be an argument for buildings and monuments to be used as a "scarlet letter" to educate people on the university's past and think critically about the future, but people who do not want changes on campus tend to use claims of tradition and history to avoid it, Gordon said. </p><p>"They're not able to empathize with black folks who are made uncomfortable by these things because they're in a different position, and they don't think they have a responsibility to empathize with us," Gordon said. "Beyond that, they think that they have particular kinds of rights to a celebration of what they understand to be their positive past, that are as important or more important than the rights of certain groups of people to be comfortable in this setting."</p>
<div>Athletes also requested that several buildings be renamed, listing four that are currently named after men with racist legacies:</div><ul><li>Robert Lee Moore Hall memorializes an outspoken segregationist who refused to teach black students. <a href="https://thedailytexan.com/2018/03/27/sg-supports-renaming-rlm-building-named-after-racist-mathematician" target="_blank">Students have called for the building to be renamed in the past.</a></li><li>Painter Hall is named after UT president Theophilus Painter who denied black students admittance to UT's law school. Painter lost the Supreme Court case <a href="https://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/clark/sweatt-v-painter" target="_blank">Sweatt v. Painter</a>, which outlawed segregation at law schools and undermined the concept of "separate but equal."</li><li>Littlefield Hall and fountain honor <a href="https://thedailytexan.com/opinion/2012/04/30/building-from-the-universitys-racist-past" target="_blank">George Littlefield, a Mississippi slave owner and a Confederate officer</a>. In a since-deleted tweet, a man who claimed to be a descendent of Littlefield said the building should not be renamed since Littlefield had "1 slave, whom he offered to free." </li><li>James Hogg Auditorium and the Hogg statue memorialize a Texas Governor who signed Jim Crow laws into effect. The Hogg statue was removed from the Main Mall in 2017 along with several other Confederate statues—<a href="https://thedailytexan.com/2018/12/03/keep-hogg-off-campus-grounds" target="_blank">only to be brought back to campus and relocated a year later</a>. </li></ul><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM5OTMwMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMzcyOTI0M30.anoeZLQGl6C0iNbwiXbBr7zQsX2XKYQmFl1lzU_f7n8/img.jpg?width=980" id="184df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6356881e033893881de7029a97c1921b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
<p>The final word on renaming buildings is in the hands of the UT Board of Regents, who have not yet made a statement. </p><p>Athletes and students called for more diverse statues to be added to campus, as well as more diversity within Texas Athletics, including more representation in the Hall of Fame and a tribute to the first black football player at UT, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/28/obituaries/julius-whittier-dies-at-68-broke-a-race-barrier-in-football.html" target="_blank">Julius Whittier</a>. UT's Athletic Director <a href="https://twitter.com/_delconte/status/1271553664054890496?s=20" target="_blank">tweeted</a> Friday that he was willing to have conversations with students about the changes they're calling for.</p><p>UT's Interim President Jay Hartzell sent a university-wide email Monday saying that he is scheduling conversations with students and athletes to hear their concerns, although he did not mention taking action on any of the specific demands that student-athletes called for.</p><p>"During the past few days, I have heard from many students, alumni, faculty and staff asking for meaningful changes to promote diversity and equity and ensure that black students at UT are fully supported," Hartzell said in the email. "Working together, we will create a plan this summer to address these issues, do better for our students and help overcome racism."</p>
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(staff/Austonia)
The University of Texas at Austin will require students, faculty and staff to wear masks inside campus buildings when the fall semester begins, interim President Jay Hartzell wrote in an email to the community, the Texas Tribune reports:
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">UT-Austin appears to be the first university in the state to implement a mandatory face mask policy for the fall semester. In an email to the UT community, Hartzell said students and faculty may remove their face coverings in a campus building if they are alone in a private office or in their residence hall room. Masks will be encouraged in outdoor areas of campus, and enforcement measures will be announced later. </p><p>UT will also screen for symptoms as people enter buildings and provide testing for those who are asymptomatic, according to the Tribune.</p>
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About 20% of classes at the University of Texas at Austin will be taught exclusively online this fall, The Texas Tribune reports, and in-person classes will be limited to 40% of classroom capacity.
<p style="margin-left: 20px;">Students who do not return to campus this fall can choose to take all their classes online. This remote-only option will have the same tuition rates as on-campus learning. To maintain social distancing, classrooms will limit capacity to 40%. Fall classes will be spread out and will take place between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. to reduce the number of students on-campus at any given time.</p><p>Interim UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell said in a letter, <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2020/06/03/texas-ut-austin-fall-online/" target="_blank">according to the Tribune</a>, that which courses will be taught online will be determined by faculty.</p>
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(Austonia staff)
The University of Texas-Austin continued its march toward a new normal on Friday, as university President Gregory Fenves marked his last day of leadership after five years in office—the final two months of it dominated by sweeping pandemic-era changes on campus.
<p>As he heads to Atlanta to lead Emory University, Fenves passes the torch on Monday to Interim President Jay Hartzell, dean of the McCombs School of Business, who takes the helm just three months before classes start on Aug. 26. </p><p><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1535b7e15a20335e921ec7846d78d076" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="4db6d" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2MDU3NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjgwMjE1OX0.37NWyGwBALb8QfnngsZu7Lob8IBsI3K7753O9Q5aIq8/img.jpg?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Greg Fenves</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(Marsha Miller/University of Texas)</small>
</p><p><br/></p><p>Hartzell faces a term marked by new protocols aimed at containing the spread of COVID-19 among students, faculty and staff on campus. University officials said that the transition, even in such uncertain times, is expected to be smooth. </p><p>"Even though this is a challenging time for higher education nationally, UT-Austin has prepared well for the transition in leadership to President <em>ad interim</em> Hartzell," Kevin P. Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, told Austonia on Thursday, saying he has "full support" of the university leadership.</p><p>Depending on his own plans and how long it takes university officials to name a permanent replacement, Hartzell will almost certainly also be called upon to play the roles of politician and advocate in the Texas Capitol, just two miles away, when UT faces budget cuts during the Legislature next year.</p><p>But officials say Hartzell's immediate mission is to ensure the campus is ready for its approximately 40,000 students to return to a safe, productive learning environment that is as valuable as it was before the pandemic caused so many changes. </p><p><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="847079ed10f8f09dffe8a34488131685" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="e66be" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM2MDU5Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzODY0ODIzOX0.Z8_UT2gtLOaJwdWh8lA6xElqiHfUJsccKZWAJD6nwpk/img.jpg?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Jay Hartzell</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">(University of Texas)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>"Our number-one goal at this time is to ensure that UT institutions are prepared to educate students, serve patients and conduct critical research in environments safe for students, faculty and staff," UT System Chancellor James B. Milliken told Austonia on Thursday. "[Hartzell] has very successfully led one of the largest colleges on campus, and for the last couple of months, he has been involved in all major decisions as the institution navigates the challenges of the pandemic and budget reductions. We need this kind of experienced leadership in the months ahead." </p><p>Neither Fenves nor Hartzell were available to comment this week. </p><p>The news that Fenves was leaving came less than two weeks after the university officially closed to contain the spread of coronavirus. It capped a term marked by success in financial aid and graduation rates, and no headline-grabbing scandals or damaging public infighting.</p><p>His announcement was a surprise to many because Fenves' candidacy at Emory, whose president vacated the role late last year, was not made public until both universities made official announcements on April 7. </p><p>It was not long after Maurie McInnis, then the provost, <a href="https://thedailytexan.com/2020/03/26/executive-vice-president-and-provost-maurie-mcinnis-leaving-ut-austin" target="_blank">said she would leave </a>at the end of the semester to become president of Stony Brook University.</p><p>Even Hartzell expressed surprise at his new role, joking last month that he was hurrying to organize his office so the new dean of McCombs, Lillian Mills, could easily take over when he moves to the tower leadership offices.</p><p>Fenves wasn't specific about his reasons for the move, but given the nature of the two vastly different jobs, Fenves likely heads to higher pay, better decision-making control, more privacy, less meddling by politicians and an overall less-public role at the prominent private research university in Georgia. </p><p>Former UT Chancellor Mark Yudof describes the post as "a great job," but one that is highly accountable to taxpayers, lawmakers, and the media in several ways—particularly as it comes to campus policies and budgeting. </p><p>Testifying before the state Legislature and fighting for funding, for example, is a vital part of the role—one Yudof relished, as a lawyer who spent his career at public institutions. By contrast, the focus of private school leadership tends to more "inward" on education and internal campus issues, he said. </p><p>"It's very different," said Yudof, who served as president of the University of California after UT. "I've never held a high post in a private school, but I did for a time think about whether I should make the move."</p>
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Amie Jean graduates from McCombs School of Business on Saturday. (Amie Jean)
Welcome to austonia.com, a new local news site for Austin. We're local people producing local stories. 100% free for news, trends, controversies, celebrities. Sign up for daily updates to get our latest stories in your inbox.
When Amie Jean won her election as student body vice president at the University of Texas-Austin last year, the career-driven business school senior saw it as her chance to enjoy campus life for her last few months as a student.
<p>Then campus life went away, shut down by the pandemic. But even more alarming was what disappeared with it: The long list of career prospects she had been lining up with years of hard work, networking and resume building. </p><p>The irony hasn't escaped Jean, 22, who graduates from the McCombs School of Business on Saturday in a virtual commencement ceremony for the University of Texas.</p><p>But she's trying to maintain a positive outlook about the uncertain future.</p><p>"If we all don't know, then at least I'm not alone," she said with a laugh.</p><p>Economists mince no words about what college graduates face: The economic crash that followed the shutdown left behind an economy at its weakest since the Great Depression, with a national unemployment rate of 14.7% and a Texas unemployment rate at 12.8%, the state's worst on record, according to U.S. labor statistics released Friday.</p><p>"The job prospects are dismal at the moment," said Michael Sadler, senior finance lecturer and economist at McCombs, adding that the few openings are not in entry-level fields. "Many of my students at UT have had job offers revoked or deferred, and those that were going to internships have seen those canceled."</p><p>Experts also predict that students graduating in a recession are also likely to make less money in the long term.</p><p>"Exactly when you graduate, and the existing economic conditions at the time, has permanent effects on earnings over the lifetime of an individual," Sadler said. </p><p>Charlotte Gorman, 26, who is getting her master's degree Saturday from UT's LBJ School of Public Affairs, hopes that working for the government will insulate her from the pay issues and job insecurity.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="50c42b4dad8c7f9859c493ba899ca198" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="cb9f7" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzMxMDg1Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjYyODIwMn0.oyEZ2wRBxHL5R29b0Pbuz3vx30OsTOD5ZhrogL__Tx0/img.jpg?width=980"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Charlotte Gorman is graduating from the LBJ School. (Charlotte Gorman)</small></p><p><br/></p><p>She snapped up a one-year fellowship in Washington D.C. in March when she realized that job opportunities were drying up. They have told her it will happen, she said, though the start date has been delayed.</p><p>"I don't know what things will look like a year from now," she said, "but I will at least have a year of experience under my belt rather than being fresh out of school."</p><p>At placement company Express Employment Systems in Austin, owner and recruiter Mark Wagner has heard from more student job seekers since the shutdown. He's also seen fewer companies hiring talent with no job openings—a common corporate strategy to keep good people away from competitors.</p><p>It's a practice he said likely won't come back soon, maybe not until a vaccine is found. </p><p>The rebound can't come soon enough for Shelby Evans, who gets her master's degree in public affairs on Saturday.</p><p>Calls and informational interviews with prospective employers dried up in March, she said. Now, she is watching her sizeable student loan balance gathering interest while she job hunts.</p><p>"I am sure things will get back to normal, and it's just a matter of when," Evans said. "But 'when' really matters when you have a bunch of debt." </p>
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