Editor’s note: This story references a derogatory racial slur.

After transferring to UT in fall 2017, Longhorn Band member Kyanna Richard said she had a hard time finding a community on campus. Most of her time was spent with the band, so she didn’t feel connected to Black community life on campus. 

“It was already hard enough trying to make friends within (Longhorn Band) … let alone even try and find friends within Black UT,” psychology senior Richard said.

In June, Richard, along with the 11 other Black members of Longhorn Band, formed LHBlacks, an organization dedicated to uplifting Black students at the Butler School of Music. 

The members of LHBlacks are the only Black students in the approximately 400-member band, meaning they make up less than 3%. 

“Even with LHBlacks, it's kind of difficult to say (Longhorn Band) is a safe space for Black students, and I think that only making (up 3%) of the organization really played a large factor in that,” said Judson Hayden, president of LHBlacks and communication and leadership junior. “I really wanted the Longhorn Band to be a safe space for everybody. And I think that's what LHBlacks is trying to achieve.”

Kristoff Crayton, biology senior and member of LHBlacks, said he hopes LHBlacks will connect Black band members to the Black community on campus. Because the Longhorn Band is a time commitment of about 20 hours a week, Crayton said it was difficult for him to join Black student organizations. 

He said connecting with the Black community at UT is important, especially when Black students make up 4.9% of the student body population. 

“It is really important for anyone to join a community, but especially here as a Black person,” Crayton said. “There's not a lot of us.”

In late June, LHBlacks was able to meet with the Longhorn Band directors to discuss their goals and plans. Richard and Crayton said they have since been working in collaboration with the directors. 

“I am really proud of these students for coming up with the idea for this organization, for the way they have structured it in a professional manner, and for the important goals they have established,” Scott Hanna, director of Longhorn Band, said in an email. 

LHBlacks is currently working to reach out to Black alumni as well as incoming Black members of Longhorn Band. They also plan to do outreach with band programs at Austin high schools in an effort to increase the amount of Black members in Longhorn Band.

Overall, Mercy Ogunlade, geography and sustainability studies junior, said she and LHBlacks just want others to listen to Black voices and their concerns. 

“We've had non-Black people say the N word. We've had racial jokes being made in a public setting,” Ogunlade said. “We've had numbers of times where we've just been treated unfairly.” 

She said what the Black members of Longhorn Band are fighting against is nothing new.

“It feels like it's about time because a lot of these issues are not new at all,” Ogunlade said. 

Richard said she is glad the group can now stand together and address discrimination and inequalities within Longhorn Band and at UT. 

“I can breathe a little bit more because I know I'm not the only one going through these issues,” Richard said.

The group also said in early August they would not play UT’s alma mater, ‘The Eyes of Texas,’ because of its racist origins. However, Crayton said the group stands for more than just getting rid of the song.

“LHBlacks is bigger than the song,” Crayton said. “Everything is about supporting and uplifting the community so that we can feel like we belong, and changing ‘The Eyes of Texas’ is just one step in that.”