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UT Welcomes First Graduate Students
John Chase and Horace Heath attend their first day of classes as UT African American graduate students. Chase earned a Master of Architecture and became the first African American graduate of the university. Chase also served as president of the Texas Exes in 1998. -
First African American Football Player Scrimmages at Memorial Stadium
Duke Washington became the first African American football player to scrimmage at the Memorial Stadium at UT. He received a standing ovation when leaving the field. -
African American Students Picket Board of Regents
Students picketed a Board of Regents meeting to protest thier exclusion from university housing, athletics, band, drama and student teaching. It was the first civil rights protest by UT students. -
UT Students Hold Sit-Ins to Protest Drag Segregation
Students held sit-ins that lasted several days in teh Varsity Theater to protest the segregation of the Drag. The Drag desegregated in response to the student's demands. UT officially desegregated in 1964. -
UT Officiall Segregates, Names first African American Professon
Ervin S. Perry was named the university's first official African American professor. -
Afro-American Organization States Demands
Afro-Americans for Black Liberation (AABL) present the following demands to then president Norman Hackerman: a Black studies program, affirmative action in admissions and teaching staff, dismissal of the Board of Regents, an ethnic studies center in East Austin, the removal of racist faculty and statues, and memorials for Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr. -
Student Organizations Demand Racial Equality at UT
The Mexican American Youth Organization, the student group The Blacks and the Radical Student Union formed the United Students Against Racism at Texas. The groups demands: 1). standardized tests be eliminated for minority admissions, 2). More financial aid for minorities, 3). Teaching assistantships represent minority population of the state, 4). A full-time minority recruitment program, 5). More Black and Chicano faculty, 6). Restructuring of Ethnic Student Services -
Anti-Apartheid Rally Leads to 42 Arrests
42 people are arrested during an anti-apartheid rally on the West Mall for speaking freely outside of the regulated "free speech" hours. -
First African American Woman Elected as President of the Student Association
Toni Luckett is elected president of the Student Association. She is the first queer black woman to ever hold this office. Despite being dogged by a conservative backlash, she appropriated record sums of the Student Association's budget to race, gender and sexuality initiatives. -
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sponsers African American Panel Discussion
Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. sponsored a forum and candlelight ceremony during which a panel of black student leaders and an African National Congress member discussed the role of African-Americans in the South African struggle. The panelists for the forum stressed the need for African-Americans to educate themselves about their history and condition in the United States in order to see the parallels with the struggles of black South Africans against apartheid. -
UT Staff and Students Rally on Main Mall to Protest Racism
At the beginning of the Fall semester, UT Law Professor Lino Graglia publicly claims that African-American and Mexican-American students are not academically competitive with whites and Asians because their cultures do not promote success. 5,000 students, staff, and faculty rally on the Main Mall to protest racism and to hear a speech by Jesse Jackson. This was the biggest rally at UT during the 1990's. -
Daily Texan Publishes Racist Cartoon, Students Protest
In the spring of 1998, the editorial board of the Daily Texan published a racist cartoon attacking an SAO leader. As a result, students protest the Texan, and its editor was formally censured by the news staff. -
Martin Luther King Jr. Statue Erected
After over ten years of pressure from students of color, the Martin Luther King Statue is erected. This statue is the University's first non-white male statue. The Statue was subsequently patrolled by UTPD for the first two weeks after its opening, and now has security cameras focused on it at all times. -
Vince Young Leads Longhorns to BCS Championship Title
On January 4, 2006, Vince Young led the Longhorn Football team as quarterback to win their fourth BSC National Championship Title. He went on to be drafted by the Tennessee Titans.