Arlington, TX – On November 10, at the University of Texas at Arlington, over 100 students gathered in front of College Hall shouting “Transphobes go home!” and “This is what community looks like,” showing their outrage at the platforming of the transphobic bigot Jeff Younger.  Younger had been invited to speak by Turning Point USA (TPUSA) following his primary defeat in the Texas House of Representatives race. Jeff Younger’s entire campaign was built on attempting to further criminalize trans healthcare for youth in the United States.

The Progressive Student Union (PSU) organized the rally and united with other groups from the community such as the Gender and Sexuality Alliance, the Freedom Road Socialist Organization, Young Democratic Socialists of America, the John Brown Gun Club and others.

In the days leading up to the event, the university had sent alerts to students reiterating that the university was “committed to free speech,” yet on the day of the event had erected police camera towers directly where the rally was to be held. UTA administrators showed their commitment to protecting the bigot while stripping away the rights of students speaking out against them.

While TPUSA had invited reactionaries from around the area, such as Kelly Neidert and Ali Jmal, in an attempt to intimidate those who sought to protest Yonger’s speech, the people clearly outnumbered them on the day of the rally and their feeble attempts to disrupt the rally were shouted down by  rally participants. It is abundantly clear that the support of the community lay with PSU and that TPUSA has no support in this community, having to really on shipping in out-of-towners to bolster their meager numbers.

Speakers included lawyer Dan Sullivan of FRSO and several PSU members, who went on to say we need to support the trans community when it is under attack by violent rhetoric from those who say “trans people don’t exist.” A member of GSA spoke on how UTA’s diversity talking points feel hollow when they continue to prop up and defend both transphobes and transphobic organizations like TPUSA.

The event culminated in the occupying of the space of the front door of the building and PSU President Mark Napieralski banging on the door, leading the over 100 students in chants of “Jeff Younger, go home.” The rally was a resounding success, and the hope is that the university administration will think twice before approving hate speech on our campus.

#ArlingtonTX #StudentMovement #ProgressiveStudentUnion #UniversityOfTexasArlington

Arlington, TX – On October 31, the Progressive Student Union held a silent protest at the University of Texas at Arlington's presidential open forum and Q and A with newly inducted President Jennifer Cowley. The students arrived with signs in hand and with a large banner boldly stating “E.H. Hereford was a segregationist! UTA should not honor this!” The Progressive Student Union demands UTA rename the University Center, presently named the E.H. Hereford University Center; take down Herefords bust in the same building, and rename the neighboring Woolf Hall.

The two buildings are named in honor of former university presidents who fought integration efforts of the Civil Rights Act and promoted white supremacy on campus. PSU felt that as one of the newest leaders at UTA, President Cowley needed to be directly asked about the issue.

At first, Cowley praised former President Woolf, an infamous segregationist, for integrating UTA back in 1962 – and after repeated questioning and revealing the racist nature of Woolf and Hereford she partially backtracked on the praise.

When it came down to the question of her agreeing to a binding referendum on the University Center’s name, Cowley continually refused to take any responsibility on the issue. When Justin Bent, PSU’s vice president, directly asked her if she would do her part in the process – she again refused to take any ownership on confronting the white supremacist segregationists that are currently being honored and platformed on campus.

This action was to show that while UTA may try to whitewash and ignore what has been brewing on campus, nearly 700 students have signed a petition to remove Woolf and Hereford’s names on their current buildings and move the bust from its current place. Like the saying, “The long memory is the most radical idea,” PSU is forcing UTA to grapple with its defense of white supremacists sooner rather than later.

#ArlingtonTX #ProgressiveStudentUnion #UniversityOfTexasArlington

Arlington, TX – The University of Texas at Arlington prides itself on the diversity and inclusivity of its campus, and rightfully so; the campus sports an impressive student body hailing from a multitude of cultural, ethnic and economic backgrounds. However, UTA cannot, and should not, parade its “inclusivity” until it openly acknowledges the issue of its racist history. From school-sanctioned minstrel shows and mock slave auctions to the Confederate ideology, UTA continues to wrongfully honor one of the worst purveyors the university’s darkest legacies, Jack R. Woolf.

Jack R. Woolf was the second president of the University of Texas at Arlington, heading the administration from 1959 to 1968. Woolf witnessed our transition from a small college to a four-year institution, and he oversaw the construction of the College of Engineering’s Woolf Hall, named in his honor.

These feats were not the only legacies that Woolf left behind. The Woolf administration is epitomized in their unique form of Confederate worship: “Old South Day.” Beginning on May 4, 1961, Old South Day was a university-sanctioned holiday that encouraged staff and students to participate in old Confederate traditions; students were told to wear their best “Confederate Gray” and join their “Confederate Army,” to host mock slave auctions and minstrel shows, and read aloud a faux Article of Secession declaring their intention to secede from the Union and form an “Arlington State Confederacy.” The “rebel” theme became synonymous with UTA, which flew the Confederate flag openly and proudly under Woolf’s leadership. It’s important to note that by this point, UTA was considered “integrated” and had some, while few, Black students.

Beyond his role in fostering a racist and hateful atmosphere at the university while pointedly ignoring the concerns of Black students, Woolf vehemently refused to integrate the faculty. The first Black faculty member at the university, Reby Cary, was hired in 1969, after Woolf’s ten-year tenure as president, due to multiple protests from the black student body.

On the issue of student integration, Woolf did so with “much regret,” per his letters to the Dallas White Citizens Council, a white supremacist organization designed to fight against integration. Woolf’s approach to the university dormitories was lackluster at best, begrudgingly choosing to integrate them only after the threat of “problems with the federal government.” Woolf never intended to fully integrate UTA. An avid segregationist, Woolf was keen to exert the “greatest freedom of control over students of all races,” vying to maintain a harsh system in which the fewest possible number of Black students would be permitted on campus despite UTA’s status as an “integrated” university.

Neo-confederate. Racist. Segregationist. Defender of inequality. This is the true legacy that Jack R. Woolf left behind, one born from hatred. A legacy that UTA continues to honor, continues to permit, through their refusal to acknowledge Woolf’s behavior and the harm derived from it.

Why, then, do we honor the Woolf administration? Why is “Woolf Hall” named as it is? Jack Woolf did as much to build the hall himself as he did to promote an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment for all students, which is to say, he didn’t. Jack R. Woolf, and his, backwards administration, represent a UTA that venerates the Confederacy, opposes diversity, and refuses to treat Black students with respect and dignity. UTA needs to do more to acknowledge its history, needs to be vocal in their disapproval of the Woolf administration, needs to do this to uphold their status as a truly inclusive university, and these changes start with the removal of Woolf’s name from Woolf Hall.

UTA truly deserves the honor of being known as one of the most diverse campuses in America and has worked hard for title. However, until the last mention of the Woolf administration, and those like him, are removed from prominence, UTA cannot consider itself a university that listens to and respects its diverse student body.

#ArlingtonTX #UniversityOfTexasArlington

Arlington, TX – On March 23, Progressive Student Union at the University of Texas at Arlington held a protest condemning the transphobic attacks that Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick have imposed on Texan families. Both men attempted to direct the state Department of Family and Protective Custody to consider gender reaffirming therapeutics, such as puberty blockers, hormonal treatment and other aspects of trans healthcare, to be classified as “child abuse,” thereby making both families that support their trans youth and licensed professionals who are either aware of or support said youths getting the necessary healthcare liable to charges of “child abuse” or “abetting child abuse.”

The demonstration had 20 participants, and several Progressive Student Union (PSU) members gave speeches regarding defending trans youth and condemning the agenda of Abbott’s administration. PSU’s Ren Butter stated, “We have to stand up against transphobia, because we see that they’re going to continually attack us for trying to live.”

Jay Rodriguez and Rick Majumdar spoke on the fact these attacks are happening as part of a national campaign to roll back the hard-fought civil liberties that the LGBTQ+ community has won over the years.

Mark Napieralski, chief organizer of PSU, brought the focus back to the University of Texas at Arlington as he said, “There are many lacking things regarding LGBTQ+ support on campus, despite the claims that they support diversity,” and he announced that PSU has five demands.

Then five members of PSU each spoke about the five-point demands that the organization was issuing to UTA: To have gender neutral housing units in every single dorm; have dispensers for menstrual healthcare products in every single gender neutral bathroom on campus; hiring more counselors who specialize in gender dysphoria and mental health issues related to the LGBTQ+ community; that President Teik C Lim and future president write a statement condemning transphobia and setting up policies to oppose transphobia on campus; and that UTA follow the city of Austin’s example and declare itself a sanctuary campus for the LGBTQ+ community.

PSU will be continuing to agitate and demand equity for the trans community on campus.

#ArlingtonTX #LGBTQRights #UniversityOfTexasArlington #antiLGBTQLegislation #Abbott #PSU #transphobia

There are 4887 international students at UTA presently out of a total of 46,497 students, which accounts for nearly 10.5% in its entirety, a significant percentage but which has dropped progressively from 2016 (4988), a statistic that shouldn't baffle anyone and points directly towards the xenophobia of the Trump administration. International students and international faculty form significant percentages in every department at UTA, conducting valuable research that not only earns UTA millions and millions monetarily but also brings UTA immense reputation value, not only in the USA but across the world as well.

I am a Masters of Aerospace Engineering student at UTA. Imagine if the astronaut and engineer Kalpana Chawla was my classmate, and because of ICE's plans, we were forced to leave UTA and be deported back to our home countries. We would not be able achieve our respective dreams and careers. UTA prides itself on Kalpana Chawla being a graduate from this institution and has rightly dedicated a residence hall and memorial in her name. Kalpana Chawla, an international student, an inspiration to many like me who died not only as an American hero but as international one as well. This is the value that international students have, and we deserve better from UTA.

UTA must not cooperate with ICE and must avoid diplomatic answers with regards to cooperation with ICE According to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) guidelines, without proper warrants signed off by judges, agents cannot get information regarding students. UTA at this present moment must provide adequate protections and not provide personal details to ICE agents or allow them on campus. Additionally, UTA must increase the number of hybrid classes to ensure not a single student is deported.

The Trump administration's failure of illegally repealing DACA has caused this morally bankrupt and racist government to turn its eyes to the legal non-immigrant international students in the U.S. to deport them back home. UTA as an institution must stand firm against this xenophobia.

#ArlingtonTX #ImmigrantRights #OppressedNationalities #ICE #US #PeoplesStruggles #Antiracism #DonaldTrump #UniversityOfTexasArlington #internationalStudents

Arlington, TX – The Progressive Student Union commenced a call-in campaign April 13 to get the administration at the University of Texas at Arlington to formally establish a Dreamer Center on their campus. Dreamer Centers exist already on several campuses, including University of Utah, Mountain View College, as well as UTA’s sister school the UT San Antonio. The latter has existed since 2018 due to student concerns that the undocumented students did not have adequate resources or protections due to the constant attacks on immigrants by the Trump administration.

This campaign was commenced as the university, now led by Chief Administrator and Provost Teik C. Lim, did not adequately respond to the demands the student organization had given to the administrators – which included, but were not limited to, $5 million in scholarships for traditionally underrepresented students, hiring four immigration lawyers, and making a plan to hire two Black and brown faculty members each year over the course of five years.

Instead the administration has pushed back against PSU, and the answering desk of the Office of the Provost said they would call the police on students who were giving their concerns.

In February, PSU had just managed to overcome attempted repression by the administration responding to their Rally for Dreamers back in November. Student activists in PSU are calling on all allies, friends and individuals to support the struggle of undocumented students on campus and oppose repression of students who are trying to create a better environment for their peers on campus.

#ArlingtonTX #ImmigrantRights #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #ProgressiveStudentUnion #DreamerCenter #UniversityOfTexasArlington