University Of Texas Donors Slammed After Threatening Funding Amid ‘Eyes of Texas’ Controversy

Donors for the University of Texas at Austin are under fire after emails obtained by the Texas Tribune revealed their protests against the potential removal of the “Eyes of Texas.”

Students have reportedly spent months petitioning the school to remove the song due to its racist lyrics. However, Jay Hartzell, the UT-Austin president, received hundreds of emails from donors threatening to pull funding if the song was removed from sporting events.

A former student, who claimed to own season tickets since 1990, wrote a message stating they would not tolerate the removal of the song. “The Eyes of Texas is non-negotiable,” the alum wrote.

“If it is not kept and fully embraced, I will not be donating any additional money to athletics or the university or attending any events.”

Another Texas donor noted their large contributions to the school and threatened to stop his family’s contributions to the school.

“My wife and I have given an endowment in excess of $1 million to athletics. This could very easily be rescinded if things don’t drastically change around here,” the donor wrote.

After reading the emails, people took to Twitter to call out the donors on their unacceptable comments.

“Really interesting how 'The Eyes of Texas' which ~they~ claim is not racist, brings out the racism in the wealthy donors at the University of Texas,” one person wrote.

Another person added, “Putting aside The Eyes of Texas, which IS complicated, there's something terribly wrong when donors have, or think they have, this kind of power over a public institution. This is not UT specific, nor is it limited to ‘cancel culture’ issues.”

Meanwhile, one person noted that donors appear to think their wealth is more important than the comfort of the minority students.

“I may have grew up singing ‘Eyes of Texas’ alongside every other Longhorns fans, but if it is bothering students now because of its history, it's time to retire it,” the individual wrote.

“The fact that Alumni and donors are saying things like this speaks volumes to just who has control here.”

In July, Hartzell revealed “The Eyes of Texas” would not be removed. “‘The Eyes of Texas’ should not only unite us, but hold all of us accountable to our institution’s core values. But we first must own the history,” Hartzell said.

A report chronicling the history and racism of the song is expected to be released sometime in March.