The University canceled a referendum about “The Eyes of Texas” tentatively scheduled for this week’s campus-wide elections as of last spring.
Following a years-long battle between students, Student Government and administration over whether the song should be used, the University canceled the referendum in January because it does not align with “University values,” SG communications director AnaMarie Cordova said in a text message.
“The Eyes of Texas” stretches back to 1902 and has been linked to minstrel shows and sayings by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
The Eyes of Texas History Committee released a report in March 2021 saying the song was not “overtly racist.” The report included a statement from President Jay Hartzell in support of keeping the song.
SG did not file the referendum this academic year, because the administration halted the process before it could begin, Speaker of the Assembly Kennedy Bailey said. On Jan. 22 Bailey said she met with former Dean Soncia Reagins-Lilly, a co-head of “The Eyes of Texas” SG committee and representatives from the Dean of Students office, where representatives told her it was “pointless” to continue pushing for the referendum.
“We were told that they believed that Jay Hartzell would not change his mind on changing the song,” Bailey said. “Because they felt the song would never be changed, there was no reason to stir the pot on that issue again.”
When asked about the issue, a spokesperson for the Office of the Dean of Students said “student leaders are the best voices to speak to their work.”
The cancellation comes after the Dean of Students postponed the referendum in February 2023 after SG Assembly posted on X that the office said could have impacted the referendum’s outcome.
