A group of University of Texas at Austin students are suing the school for creating a 'hostile environment' by forcing members of its marching band to play in a separate group because they refuse to play the school's spirit song, 'The Eyes of Texas', at football games.
'The Eyes of Texas' was first sung in 1903 at a student-organized minstrel show, a popular form of entertainment in the early 20th century that featured white performers in blackface, in downtown Austin.
It's been a source of campus-wide debate for more than a year after a summer of Black Lives Matter protests amid the killing of George Floyd - but the university stood by the song in a recent report affirming that it had 'no racist intent' and that it 'remains our alma mater.'
The lawsuit, filed Friday with the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights on behalf of an anonymous group of students and the Texas chapter of the NAACP, claims the university failed to respond to the harassment of black students who opposed the song.
At games last fall, members of the marching band refused to play it and some players refused to sing it.
The lawsuit also alleges that the school is violating the equal protection rights of students after it created a separate marching band for students who refused to play the song last fall, according to the Texas Tribune.
Students in the Longhorn band are required to play the song.
'The Eyes of Texas' is traditionally played at Longhorns football games, but several student athletes and marching band members protested the song at games last fall
The song was first played at a minstrel show in 1903. Above, the Longhorns mascot leads the team onto the field in September 2008 in Austin, Texas
A committee led by education professor Richard Reddick found that the song had 'no racist intent' despite where it was first sung
Alberto Martinez, a history professor at the school, released his own report disputing the university committee's findings
