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| Lady Bird Johnson |
Notable University of Texas Alumni: Among Texas' Distinguished Alumni: At least 15 graduates have served in the US Senate and US House of Representatives, such as Lloyd Bentsen, who served as both a U.S. Senator and U.S. Representative, as well as being the 1988 Democratic Party Vice Presidential nominee. Presidential cabinet members include former United States Secretary of State James Baker, former United States Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, and former United States Secretary of Education William J. Bennett, and former United States Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans. Former First Lady Barbara Bush and Daughter Jenna graduated from Texas, as well as former First Lady Lady Bird Johnson and her eldest daughter Lynda. In foreign governments, the university has been represented by Fernando Belaunde Terry (a president of Peru), Mostafa Chamran (former Minister of Defense for Iran), and Abdulla al-Tariki (co-founder of OPEC). Additionally, the Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, Salam Fayyad, graduated from the university with a PhD in economics. Tom C. Clark, J.D., served as United State Attorney General from 1945 to 1949 and as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1949 to 1967. The University also graduated Alan Bean, the fourth man to walk on the moon. Alumni who have served as business leaders include former Exxon Mobile Corporation CEO and current U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Dell Founder ad CEO Michael Dell, and Gary C. Kelly, Southwest Airlines' CEO and Chairman. In literature and journalism, the school boasts 20 Pulitzer Prizes to 18 former students, including Gail Caldwell and Ben Sargent. Walter Cronkite, the former CBS Evening News anchor, who was called the most trusted man in America, attended the University of Texas at Austin, as did CNN anchor Betty Nguyen. Alumnus J. M. Coetzee received the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. Novelist Raymond Benson was the official author of James Bond novels between 1996–2002, the only American to be commissioned to pen them. Though expelled from UT, former student and The Daily Texan writer John Patrick, went on to become a noted writer for National Geographic, Reader's Digest, and author of 1940s best-seller Why Japan was Strong. UT Alumni also include 28 Rhodes Scholars, 26 Truman Scholars, 20 Marshall Scholars and nine Astronauts. Several musicians and entertainers attended the University, though most dropped out to pursue their respective careers. Janis Joplin attended the university, as did February 1955 Playboy Playmate of the Month and Golden Globe recipient Jayne Mansfield. Composer Harold Morris is a 1910 graduate. Noted film director, cinematographer, writer, and editor Robert Rodriguez is a Longhorn, as are actors Eli Wallach and Matthew McConaughey. Radio-Television-Film alumni Mark Dennis and Ben Foster took their award winning feature film, Strings, to the American film festival circuit in 2011. Web and television actress Felicia Day and film actress Renée Zellweger also attended the university. Farrah Fawcett, one of the original Charlie's Angels, left after her junior year to pursue a modeling career. Actor Owen Wilson and writer/director Wes Anderson attended the university. There they wrote Bottle Rocket together which became Anderson's first feature film. Notable illustrator, writer and alum, Felicia Bond, is best known for her illustrations in the If You Give... children's books series, starting with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. Legendary pro football coach Tom Landry attended the university and played fullback and defensive back on the Longhorns' bowl-game winners on New Year's Day of 1948 and 1949. Seven-time Cy Young Award-winner Roger Clemens entered the MLB after helping the Longhorns win the 1983 College World Series. Three-time NBA scoring champion Kevin Durant entered the 2007 NBA Draft and was selected second overall behind Greg Oden, after sweeping National Player of the Year honors, becoming the first freshman to win any of the awards. After becoming the first freshman in school history to lead Texas in scoring and being named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, Daniel Gibson entered the 2006 NBA Draft and was selected in the second round by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Several Olympic medalists have also attended the school, including 2008 Summer Olympics athletes Ian Crocker (swimming world record holder and two-time Olympic gold medalist) and 4x400m relay defending Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards. Mary Lou Retton (the first female gymnast outside Eastern Europe to win the Olympic all-around title, five-time Olympic medalist, and 1984 Sports Illustrated Sportswoman of the Year) also attended the university. Also an alumnus is Dr. Robert Cade, the inventor of the sport drink Gatorade. In big, global philanthropy, the university is honored by Darren Walker, president of Ford Foundation. Other notable alumni include prominent businessman Red McCombs, Diane Pamela Wood, the first female chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, and astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson. Also an alumnus is Admiral William H. McRaven, credited for organizing and executing Operation Neptune's Spear, the special ops raid that led to the death of Osama bin Laden.
University of Texas Traditions: Here are some traditions observed by University of Texas students and alumni:
Athletic colors: Burnt-orange and white.
The 1893 team did not always wear orange. They also wore gold and white uniforms. In 1895, the Texas Athletic Association moved to orange and white colors. In 1897, the Association moved to orange and maroon to save cleaning costs. The Cactus Yearbook at the time listed the University colors as either gold or orange and white until the 1899 Cactus declared the University colors to be gold and maroon. Students at the University's medical branch in Galveston were in favor of royal blue.
By 1899, a UT fan could have worn any of yellow, orange, white, red, maroon, or even blue. The Board of Regents held an election in that year to decide the team colors. Students, faculty, staff and alumni were asked vote. 1,111 votes were cast, with 562 in favor of orange and white. Orange and maroon received 310, royal blue 203, crimson 10, and royal blue and crimson 11. For the next 30 years, Longhorn teams wore bright orange on their uniforms, which faded to yellow by the end of the season.
By the 1920s, other teams sometimes called the Longhorn squads "yellow bellies," a term that didn't sit well with the athletic department. In 1928, UT football coach Clyde Littlefield ordered uniforms in a darker shade of orange that wouldn't fade, which would later become known as "burnt orange" or "Texas orange." The dark-orange color was used until the dye became too expensive during the Great Depression and the uniforms reverted to the bright orange for another two decades, until coach Darrell Royal revived the burnt-orange color in the early 1960s.
Mascot: Bevo, the school mascot, is a live Texas Longhorn steer with burnt-orange coloring.
The current Bevo is the 15th in the line of Longhorns that have been the university's mascot. It was supplied by John T. Baker, owner of the Sunrise Ranch in Liberty Hill, Texas.
A Longhorn was not the original mascot of UT. It was a pit bulldog named "Pig." The idea to use a Longhorn as the university's mascot is attributed to UT alumnus Stephen Pinckney in 1916. Pinckney gathered $124 from other alumni to purchase a steer which they originally named "Bo" and shipped to Austin. The Longhorn made its first public appearance at the halftime of the 1916 football game between Texas and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, which, of course, is now Texas a&m. Bevo makes appearances at almost all home football games and many of UT's away football games. Bevo is a steer, as an intact bull would be too dangerous in a crowded environment like a football stadium. Watch here.
It is a common misconception that Bevo's name came from Texas students altering a 13-0 branding a group of Aggies gave the steer. In actuality, Bevo received his name several months before the Aggies could vandalize the steer. His name came from the slang term for a steer that is destined to become food, beeve.
The costumed Longhorn mascot at Texas athletic events is named "Hook 'em."
Silver Spurs: Since 1945, the care of Bevo during his transportation and appearances has been entrusted to an honorary organization of undergraduate students called the Silver Spurs.
Big Bertha: No, this isn't a reference to your Uncle Bob's college girlfriend. Instead, Big Bertha is claimed by UT to be the world's largest drum. Purdue University makes a similar claim about its drum. In other words, "My drum is bigger than your drum!"
UT's Big Bertha got its beginning in 1992 when the University of Chicago commissioned C.G. Conn Instruments to build a bass drum for the school. Its first use was in the 1922 game versus rival Princeton University. When the University of Chicago ended its football program, the drum was stored under the school's bleachers. It later became radioactively contaminated as a result of research for the Manhattan Project conducted at the stadium during the 1940s. Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a former Longhorn Band member, brought the drum to UT in 1955 after purchasing it from the University of Chicago for $1 and paying to have it decontaminated and restored.
The Big Bertha name was chosen to evoke the famous German Big Bertha howitzer. Big Bertha measures 8 feet in diameter, 44 inches in depth, and stands 10 feet tall when on its four-wheeled cart. The drum weighs more than 500 pounds. Big Bertha is wheeled onto the field for the half-time show during football games. The drum is managed by the Bertha Crew, sometimes called "drum wranglers." They move the drum and play it after UT touchdowns. Big Bertha is nicknamed the "Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band."
Longhorn Band: The University of Texas Longhorn Band, also known as the Showband of the Southwest, was founded in 1900 by a distinguished professor of chemistry, Dr. Eugene P. Schoch. The band includes 350 students, all of whom must register for a year-round course offered by UT's School of Music.
The Longhorn Band performs a different show at each home football game. These shows include 'Traditional Shows', which feature signature music and drill, and 'Non-Traditional Shows', which feature contemporary music and a modern marching style. The curl-on entrance is a traditional entrance in which the marchers enter from both east and west sidelines.
First performed in 1957, "Script Texas" is a traditional halftime show performed. The Drum Major leads the band onto the field in a single-file line, spelling "Texas" in script writing. The band is split into two blocks at the start of the performance and begins by playing "The Yellow Rose of Texas." The Drum Major marches over to the front of block one and block one begins spelling out the T-E-X of "Texas". They only spell out the bottom part of the T and the / of the X, though. While the first block follows the Drum Major out onto the field, the color guard who are in block one march in a large circle to the side of the band before putting the top on the T after block one has marched to their positions. At the end of "The Yellow Rose of Texas," the band goes straight into "March of the Longhorns" and the rest of "Texas" is spelled out. Once "March of the Longhorns" is over, "Calypso" starts and the Drum Major leads the Saxophones, who are by themselves, into an arc that comes down and below A and S. This concludes Script Texas, and "Texas Fight" is played while the band marches off of the field.
"The Eyes of Texas": "The Eyes of Texas" is the school spirit song of UT. It is set to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." The song was written in 1903 by John Sinclair, editor of the Cactus yearbook and a UT band member.
The lyrics are said to be intended to poke fun at University President Colonel Prather. Prather had attended Washington College, now Washington and Lee University,, whose president, Robert E. Lee, would frequently tell his students, "the eyes of the South are upon you." Prather was known for including in his speeches a similar admonition, "The Eyes of Texas are Upon You," meaning that the state of Texas was watching and expecting the students to go out and do great things. Prather enjoyed the song and promoted its usage. He died not long thereafter, and the song was played at his funeral.
An alternate source for the song's inspiration is offered in Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guard, a 1970 book by Col. Harold B. Simpson that tracked the history of the vaunted Texas Brigade during the Civil War. The brigade served under General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and fought with distinction in nearly all of the Civil War's pivotal battles. But their finest hour occurred on May 6, 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness.
General Grant's troops had broken the Confederate line and were driving the fleeing graycoats in disarray back into their reserves. The collapse of Lee's army - and the Confederate cause - seemed imminent when the Texas Brigade arrived with a resounding Rebel yell after an exhausting overnight march.
Moved by their fighting spirit, Lee himself rode to the front of the Texas line on his horse, Traveller, and remarked to his aides, "Texans always move them." The remark was passed down the cheering line, and the brigade formed into attack formation. Knowing that the charge would be deadly, the Brigade refused to move until General Lee moved behind them. ("General Lee to the rear.") Their commander, Col. John Gregg, then ordered them forward: "Attention Texas Brigade. The eyes of General Lee are upon you. Forward march!"
The 811-man brigade surged forward and stopped the federal advance before driving the bluecoats back through two of their defensive lines. Their frontal assault against superior numbers was brutal and costly with 565 casualties (dead and wounded). But it saved the day and prolonged the Confederacy for another year.
Simpson's history is exhaustively sourced and deserving of serious consideration as the primary inspiration for the song. After the war, Lee retired to Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), where he taught Prather and could easily have related both the story and the saying. Lee had an abiding respect for the courage, strength and character of his "Texian" fighters, who were arguably the South's finest troops. Prather was one of the pallbearers at Lee's funeral in 1870.
World's Largest Texas Flag: The World's largest Texas flag is run onto the field prior to home football games, bowl games and other sporting events. It is also dropped from the President's Balcony during pep rallies. It is owned by the UT Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega. The newest incarnation of the Field Flag was purchased in July 2007. It measures 100 feet in width and 150 feet in length and was made by the Dixie Flag Manufacturing Company of San Antonio.
Hook 'em Horns: Hook 'em Horns is the slogan and hand signal of UT. It was introduced at a pep rally in 1955 and has been irritating non-Whorns ever since.
"Texas Fight": "Texas Fight" is the official fight song of UT. was written by Colonel Walter S. Hunnicutt in collaboration with James E. King, then director of the Marlin High School Band. Hunnicutt wrote "Texas Fight" in response to the "Farmers Fight" song that was being used at the time by a&m.
Lighting the Tower: Lighting the Tower (also known as the Main Building) in orange is done for various types of sporting victories. The Tower is at the center of the UT campus. It is 307 feet tall and has 30 floors.
On August 1, 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, a student at the university, barricaded himself in the observation deck of the tower of the Main Building with a deer rifle and various other weapons. In a 96-minute standoff, Whitman killed 14 Austin residents and wounded many more. Police and armed citizens climbed up the Tower to the observation deck and shot Whitman to death.
Following the Whitman incident, the observation deck was closed from August 1966 until 1968 and closed again in 1974 following nine suicide jumps. On November 11, 1998, the Board of Regents of the UT system approved the recommendation of Student Association leaders and of then-president Larry Faulkner to reopen the Tower's observation deck to visitors. After the installation of security and safety measures, the observation deck reopened to the public in 1999. The observation deck was closed in 2002 and 2003, due to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and was reopened in 2004 with added security.
UT vs. Texas A&M: UT and Texas A&M used to play each other for the Lone Star Trophy in the Lone Star Showdown every year, on Thanksgiving Day. The first meeting took place in 1897. The last meeting took place in 2011. The teams quit playing each other because A&M turned thumbs down on the Big 12 and moved to the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Texas leads the series, 76-37.
University of Texas Traditions: Here are some traditions observed by University of Texas students and alumni:
Athletic colors: Burnt-orange and white.The 1893 team did not always wear orange. They also wore gold and white uniforms. In 1895, the Texas Athletic Association moved to orange and white colors. In 1897, the Association moved to orange and maroon to save cleaning costs. The Cactus Yearbook at the time listed the University colors as either gold or orange and white until the 1899 Cactus declared the University colors to be gold and maroon. Students at the University's medical branch in Galveston were in favor of royal blue.
By 1899, a UT fan could have worn any of yellow, orange, white, red, maroon, or even blue. The Board of Regents held an election in that year to decide the team colors. Students, faculty, staff and alumni were asked vote. 1,111 votes were cast, with 562 in favor of orange and white. Orange and maroon received 310, royal blue 203, crimson 10, and royal blue and crimson 11. For the next 30 years, Longhorn teams wore bright orange on their uniforms, which faded to yellow by the end of the season.
By the 1920s, other teams sometimes called the Longhorn squads "yellow bellies," a term that didn't sit well with the athletic department. In 1928, UT football coach Clyde Littlefield ordered uniforms in a darker shade of orange that wouldn't fade, which would later become known as "burnt orange" or "Texas orange." The dark-orange color was used until the dye became too expensive during the Great Depression and the uniforms reverted to the bright orange for another two decades, until coach Darrell Royal revived the burnt-orange color in the early 1960s.
The current Bevo is the 15th in the line of Longhorns that have been the university's mascot. It was supplied by John T. Baker, owner of the Sunrise Ranch in Liberty Hill, Texas.
A Longhorn was not the original mascot of UT. It was a pit bulldog named "Pig." The idea to use a Longhorn as the university's mascot is attributed to UT alumnus Stephen Pinckney in 1916. Pinckney gathered $124 from other alumni to purchase a steer which they originally named "Bo" and shipped to Austin. The Longhorn made its first public appearance at the halftime of the 1916 football game between Texas and the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, which, of course, is now Texas a&m. Bevo makes appearances at almost all home football games and many of UT's away football games. Bevo is a steer, as an intact bull would be too dangerous in a crowded environment like a football stadium. Watch here.
It is a common misconception that Bevo's name came from Texas students altering a 13-0 branding a group of Aggies gave the steer. In actuality, Bevo received his name several months before the Aggies could vandalize the steer. His name came from the slang term for a steer that is destined to become food, beeve.
The costumed Longhorn mascot at Texas athletic events is named "Hook 'em."
Silver Spurs: Since 1945, the care of Bevo during his transportation and appearances has been entrusted to an honorary organization of undergraduate students called the Silver Spurs.
UT's Big Bertha got its beginning in 1992 when the University of Chicago commissioned C.G. Conn Instruments to build a bass drum for the school. Its first use was in the 1922 game versus rival Princeton University. When the University of Chicago ended its football program, the drum was stored under the school's bleachers. It later became radioactively contaminated as a result of research for the Manhattan Project conducted at the stadium during the 1940s. Colonel D. Harold Byrd, a former Longhorn Band member, brought the drum to UT in 1955 after purchasing it from the University of Chicago for $1 and paying to have it decontaminated and restored.
The Big Bertha name was chosen to evoke the famous German Big Bertha howitzer. Big Bertha measures 8 feet in diameter, 44 inches in depth, and stands 10 feet tall when on its four-wheeled cart. The drum weighs more than 500 pounds. Big Bertha is wheeled onto the field for the half-time show during football games. The drum is managed by the Bertha Crew, sometimes called "drum wranglers." They move the drum and play it after UT touchdowns. Big Bertha is nicknamed the "Sweetheart of the Longhorn Band."
The Longhorn Band performs a different show at each home football game. These shows include 'Traditional Shows', which feature signature music and drill, and 'Non-Traditional Shows', which feature contemporary music and a modern marching style. The curl-on entrance is a traditional entrance in which the marchers enter from both east and west sidelines.
First performed in 1957, "Script Texas" is a traditional halftime show performed. The Drum Major leads the band onto the field in a single-file line, spelling "Texas" in script writing. The band is split into two blocks at the start of the performance and begins by playing "The Yellow Rose of Texas." The Drum Major marches over to the front of block one and block one begins spelling out the T-E-X of "Texas". They only spell out the bottom part of the T and the / of the X, though. While the first block follows the Drum Major out onto the field, the color guard who are in block one march in a large circle to the side of the band before putting the top on the T after block one has marched to their positions. At the end of "The Yellow Rose of Texas," the band goes straight into "March of the Longhorns" and the rest of "Texas" is spelled out. Once "March of the Longhorns" is over, "Calypso" starts and the Drum Major leads the Saxophones, who are by themselves, into an arc that comes down and below A and S. This concludes Script Texas, and "Texas Fight" is played while the band marches off of the field.
"The Eyes of Texas": "The Eyes of Texas" is the school spirit song of UT. It is set to the tune of "I've Been Working on the Railroad." The song was written in 1903 by John Sinclair, editor of the Cactus yearbook and a UT band member.
The lyrics are said to be intended to poke fun at University President Colonel Prather. Prather had attended Washington College, now Washington and Lee University,, whose president, Robert E. Lee, would frequently tell his students, "the eyes of the South are upon you." Prather was known for including in his speeches a similar admonition, "The Eyes of Texas are Upon You," meaning that the state of Texas was watching and expecting the students to go out and do great things. Prather enjoyed the song and promoted its usage. He died not long thereafter, and the song was played at his funeral.
An alternate source for the song's inspiration is offered in Hood's Texas Brigade: Lee's Grenadier Guard, a 1970 book by Col. Harold B. Simpson that tracked the history of the vaunted Texas Brigade during the Civil War. The brigade served under General Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and fought with distinction in nearly all of the Civil War's pivotal battles. But their finest hour occurred on May 6, 1864 at the Battle of the Wilderness.
General Grant's troops had broken the Confederate line and were driving the fleeing graycoats in disarray back into their reserves. The collapse of Lee's army - and the Confederate cause - seemed imminent when the Texas Brigade arrived with a resounding Rebel yell after an exhausting overnight march.
Moved by their fighting spirit, Lee himself rode to the front of the Texas line on his horse, Traveller, and remarked to his aides, "Texans always move them." The remark was passed down the cheering line, and the brigade formed into attack formation. Knowing that the charge would be deadly, the Brigade refused to move until General Lee moved behind them. ("General Lee to the rear.") Their commander, Col. John Gregg, then ordered them forward: "Attention Texas Brigade. The eyes of General Lee are upon you. Forward march!"
The 811-man brigade surged forward and stopped the federal advance before driving the bluecoats back through two of their defensive lines. Their frontal assault against superior numbers was brutal and costly with 565 casualties (dead and wounded). But it saved the day and prolonged the Confederacy for another year.
Simpson's history is exhaustively sourced and deserving of serious consideration as the primary inspiration for the song. After the war, Lee retired to Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), where he taught Prather and could easily have related both the story and the saying. Lee had an abiding respect for the courage, strength and character of his "Texian" fighters, who were arguably the South's finest troops. Prather was one of the pallbearers at Lee's funeral in 1870.
World's Largest Texas Flag: The World's largest Texas flag is run onto the field prior to home football games, bowl games and other sporting events. It is also dropped from the President's Balcony during pep rallies. It is owned by the UT Alpha Rho chapter of Alpha Phi Omega. The newest incarnation of the Field Flag was purchased in July 2007. It measures 100 feet in width and 150 feet in length and was made by the Dixie Flag Manufacturing Company of San Antonio.Hook 'em Horns: Hook 'em Horns is the slogan and hand signal of UT. It was introduced at a pep rally in 1955 and has been irritating non-Whorns ever since.
"Texas Fight": "Texas Fight" is the official fight song of UT. was written by Colonel Walter S. Hunnicutt in collaboration with James E. King, then director of the Marlin High School Band. Hunnicutt wrote "Texas Fight" in response to the "Farmers Fight" song that was being used at the time by a&m.
On August 1, 1966, Charles Joseph Whitman, a student at the university, barricaded himself in the observation deck of the tower of the Main Building with a deer rifle and various other weapons. In a 96-minute standoff, Whitman killed 14 Austin residents and wounded many more. Police and armed citizens climbed up the Tower to the observation deck and shot Whitman to death.
Following the Whitman incident, the observation deck was closed from August 1966 until 1968 and closed again in 1974 following nine suicide jumps. On November 11, 1998, the Board of Regents of the UT system approved the recommendation of Student Association leaders and of then-president Larry Faulkner to reopen the Tower's observation deck to visitors. After the installation of security and safety measures, the observation deck reopened to the public in 1999. The observation deck was closed in 2002 and 2003, due to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and was reopened in 2004 with added security.
UT vs. Texas A&M: UT and Texas A&M used to play each other for the Lone Star Trophy in the Lone Star Showdown every year, on Thanksgiving Day. The first meeting took place in 1897. The last meeting took place in 2011. The teams quit playing each other because A&M turned thumbs down on the Big 12 and moved to the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Texas leads the series, 76-37.
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