UT star is part of group that backed song
Former Longhorns quarterback Colt McCoy, who recently signed with the Arizona Cardinals, was among a group of connected University of Texas at Austin donors who organized an effort last June to pressure university leaders to keep the alma mater song, “The Eyes of Texas,” according to new emails provided to the Texas Tribune.
Last month, the Tribune reported that dozens of UT-Austin donors threatened to pull funds if the university got rid of the song, which has been the subject of student protests.
UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell released a statement that said he received a “small number” of hateful emails about the issue and that they “bear no influence on any aspect of our decisionmaking.”
Then, after the Tribune inquired about missing records, UT-Austin identified more than 550 additional emails that should have been provided in response to an open records request.
“The Eyes of Texas” became a flashpoint at the university last summer when athletes and other students urged the school to stop singing the song because it originated at a campus minstrel show in 1903, where students likely wore blackface and performed skits making fun of Black people. A recent report commissioned by Hartzell determined that the song was not “overtly racist,” though it was written in a racist setting.
The new emails reveal more powerful donors and alumni than were previously known who mobilized on the issue in June right after the student-athletes went public with their demands. Many of the people who wrote or were included in the emails are graduates and supporters of UT-Austin’s McCombs School of Business, where Hartzell worked for nearly two decades, including as dean for the last four years.
They include two athletes inducted last year into the UT Athletics Hall of Honor, multiple multimillion-dollar donors and the past chair of the University of Texas Development Board, who told other donors in June that he would soon host the UT-Austin president at his Santa Fe home.
In addition to McCoy, the list of heavy hitters includes Bud Brigham, an oil tycoon who recently donated an undisclosed five-year gift to the school; Bill Stanley, a chemical engineer and entrepreneur who has donated at least $2 million; and Mickey Klein, an independent oil and gas producer and philanthropist who has do
nated nearly $28 million to the university, according to documents included with the emails.
The emails also show that UT-Austin officials had at least two direct conversations with some of the donors to discuss their concerns about the brewing controversy, including one between a UT-Austin vice president and Stanley, who wrote in an email that the anti-song effort was being driven by “socialistic groups that are using the blacks as pawns.”
Within a few weeks of the donors reaching out, Hartzell announced July 13 that UT-Austin would keep the song.
McCoy and Brigham were part of a large group email of Longhorn donors and fans who discussed the controversy among themselves June 29. Other former Longhorns athletes, including former NFL player Jordan Shipley, were included in the group message.
“It’s not looking good,” Brigham wrote to the group about protests against the song. “(Athletic Director Chris Del Conte) was trying to manage the situation but without help it doesn’t sound like there is enough support for our perspective, at this point, to stop the movement.”
In a matter of hours, Brigham set up a conference call with McCoy and other alumni to update them on the situation and solicit potential solutions and ideas.
“We need some reasoned and courageous former black athletes to step up, that share our/your perspective, or it may be game over for the song,” Brigham wrote in another email directed at former athletes.
Brigham did not respond to requests for comment. The Tribune attempted to contact McCoy through UTAustin, a family member and the Arizona Cardinals but he could not be reached for comment.
After the call with Brigham and McCoy, Scott Ingraham, another alumnus and brother of former Longhorns football player Rick Ingraham, told the roughly 75 people on the email chain the consensus was to email Hartzell and Del Conte and urge them not to make an immediate decision. Rick Ingraham told the Tribune he did not join the conference call but that he spoke with some Black former teammates about the issue and said they did not have an issue with the song.
Scott Ingraham also said in that email that the same group on the conference call also pitched a task force of “ideally 50% African American and 50% nonBlack” Longhorn athletes from varying backgrounds to examine the song. Emails show Brigham suggested the task force should last a year and include a lawyer.
“A diverse group to illuminate the history and also the value of the song for ALL the stakeholders would be a healthy and beneficial process, as opposed to what is happening now with demands, or else,” Brigham wrote to Hartzell on June 29. In that email, Brigham said McCoy may suggest a similar task force to Del Conte.
In October, Hartzell announced a committee to “chronicle the full history of ‘The Eyes’ and recommend ways we can openly acknowledge, share and learn from it.” The committee included current and former athletes, historians, professors and students. The committee released a report last month concluding that while the song was written and performed in a racist setting, it had “no racist intent” and that the lyrics were not “overtly racist.”
J.B. Bird, a spokesperson for UT-Austin, said the university’s committee to study the song was not formed at the suggestion of donors. Hartzell declined to be interviewed for this story, and his office referred the Tribune to his March 2 statement.
Scott Ingraham told the Tribune he had not intended for the email to be public. But he said he’s proud of Hartzell for organizing the task force and “for researching the history of The Eyes of Texas and affirming the song is about school pride, accountability and unity.”
The new emails also showed that UT-Austin officials solicited feedback from donors who had concerns, including a meeting between Hartzell, Klein and his wife, Jeanne. In an email, officials said the purpose of the meeting was “to gain our guests’ perspective on the Eyes of Texas controversy.”
Mickey Klein had written a letter to the athletes urging them to reconsider their demand that the song go.
The latest emails also included more examples of direct threats from donors over the song.
Kenneth Aboussie, cofounder of Stonelake Capital Partners, was waiting to sign paperwork on a $1 million commitment until the university made a decision on the song. He said he would not donate if there were changes to the university song and traditions, according to a UT-Austin employee in university development who spoke with him and shared the details of their conversation with Hartzell via email. Aboussie did not respond to emails and calls seeking comment.
Another donor, whose name is redacted, said that while the players’ other demands were valid, eliminating “The Eyes of Texas” was “totally unacceptable.”
“I have donated to the Engineering department every year since I graduated as well as most years to the Texas Exes,” the donor wrote. “Finally, a sizable portion of my estate is directed to the university in my will. All of this will unfortunately have to end.”