University of Texas at Austin officials debated how much to say after Bo French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, posted a photo of South Asian students at a Longhorns football game, according to internal records published Monday by The Texas Tribune.
French posted the image at 7:52 a.m. on Sept. 13, the morning after UT's one-point win over Ohio State, with the line: "The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined."
Inside the response
That afternoon, Patrick Wiseman, UT-Austin's vice president for marketing and communications, told colleagues in a Microsoft Teams message that he had kept university leaders informed. "Bo is getting crushed by others," he wrote. "No need for us to stoop to these politics and make a UT comment."
A university spokesperson told reporters the next morning that no statement was planned. By that Monday afternoon, President Jim Davis' office had received at least 22 emails about the post, the Tribune reported. One law student wrote that "the silence is getting a bit loud."
At 6:02 p.m. that Monday, more than a day after the post, UT System Board Chair Kevin Eltife wrote on X that when he looked at the stadium crowd, "I saw Longhorns." Davis reposted it, adding: "Our students are exceptional. All of them are Longhorns." Neither named French. More emails followed, including one from a 1998 graduate who wrote, "You fumbled."
The records also show a communications official urging national reporters to note that international students made up about 4% of UT undergraduates, not the nearly 10% figure that includes graduate students. Both numbers were accurate, the official said.
