Austin, TX – On September 10, Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) held a protest at UT Austin for their campaign against Trump-backed university administration. The group of up to 30 people marched around the campus, garnering attention from many students going to class.

The protest began with chants calling to reverse the elimination of women’s, gender and ethnic studies departments. Students also demand the firing of university President Jim Davis and Provost William Imboden.

SDS member Sofie Gomez spoke on the undemocratic nature of the University of Texas, and highlighted the control that Governor Greg Abbott has on the unelected officials, including UT President Jim Davis.

“UT Austin and the entire UT system in Texas has board members that are directly appointed by Abbott himself,” Gomez said.

Students for International Labor Solidarity member Jack Hernandez expressed frustration at the suspension of multiple Austin SDS members during their campaign against Trump's Compact for Higher Education. “I am disgusted by the attempts of our administration to censor our education,” Hernandez said.

Austin SDS plans on continuing their fight against cuts to education as the administration continues to censor and eliminate study of race and gender in the classroom.

#AustinTX #TX #StudentMovement #AustinSDS #UTAustin #JimDavis

Austin, TX – On Tuesday afternoon, September 19, a group of students gathered on Speedway and 21st Street at the University of Texas at Austin to rally in defense of campus diversity programs. Since the signing of Texas Senate Bill 17 in June, diversity, equity, and inclusion offices have been banned at public universities, and the UT administration has still not taken any action to protect diversity programs on campus.

Participants in the protest included students from Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Black Student Alliance. One of the speakers, SDS member Jake Holtzman, said, “We are out here to protest against the ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion offices in Texas. This could affect programs and centers that are important to student needs, such as the Multicultural Engagement Center and the Gender and Sexuality Center. Yet President Hartzell and other upper administrators have stayed silent and given nothing but empty comments, claiming they support us, but refusing to take action.”

Holtzman continued, “We don’t want to hear the administration simply say, ‘Thank you for sharing your message, we support you.’ We want promises for actual action steps to protect diversity programs.”

After gathering for a brief rally, students marched down to the UT Engineering Education and Research Center to confront the school’s president, Jay Hartzell, who was delivering a state of the university address. Although this was a public event, the protesters were met at the door by administrators who claimed they were not allowed inside the auditorium. The administrators told students that they sent out an email about a required RSVP, however, none of the student organizations present received this email.

The protesters were forced to remain outside the auditorium, but stood their ground, and continued to hold their signs that had messages such as, “Defend diversity, equity, and inclusion” and “Support student rights!”

#AustinTX #AustinSDS #SDS #UTAustin #DEI