Reporting Texas
News and features from UT-Austin's School of Journalism
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Mar 18, 2024

Dripping Springs Soccer Star Headed to College One Year Early

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas– A Dripping Springs High School senior is headed to the fighting Irish. However, she is doing all of this one year early.  Ellie Hodsden isn’t just a star forward on her high school soccer team – this Dripping Springs student is graduating following her junior year after being recruited to play at […]

Mar 18, 2024

Young Students From All Over Texas Visit UT Campus for STEM Girl Day

AUSTIN, Texas – Sometimes Speedway can be more than just a walk to class. For elementary and middle school students from different cities across Texas, it provided a path to learning about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  “I came here to see future college paths I can take and what I like the most about […]

Mar 17, 2024

Cheers to Romance: ‘The Bachelor’ Takes Over Victory Lap Bar

AUSTIN, Texas — The new season of  “The Bachelor” hit the screen on Jan. 29 and a  well-known West Campus sports bar decided to get in on the hype.  Hundreds of students gathered around the large screen on Victory Lap’s lawn. This event brought in a new sense of excitement as the crowds grew week […]

Mar 17, 2024

UT Multi-Day Exhibition Highlighted Drag Performance in South Texas

AUSTIN, Texas – Spanish pop and rhinestone gowns welcomed visitors to University of Texas Ph.D. graduate Sergio Barrera’s exhibit centered around queer artistry in South Texas. It debuted on campus at the Gordon White Building on Feb. 27. The eight-month long research project on drag culture in the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region featured a […]

Mar 17, 2024

UTPD is Moving This Semester

AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Texas at Austin Police Department (UTPD) will relocate its headquarters to West Campus as part of its commitments to campus safety. Accredited by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies since July 2007, UTPD boasts a comprehensive array of resources and services aimed at ensuring the safety and […]

Mar 17, 2024

Austinites Celebrate Black History Month by Educating Youth

AUSTIN, Texas – Children painted, danced, and created artwork during the final event of the George Washington Carver Museum’s Black History Month program.  The annual Black History Month Kids Day event took place Feb. 24 to educate young children on Black culture. More than 800 attendees including children, parents and grandparents celebrated Black history.  Faith […]

Mar 17, 2024

Ballet Austin Rehearses for World Premiere Performance of Poe / A Tale of Madness

AUSTIN, Texas – A new show reflecting the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe will premiere March 22. Ballet Austin artistic director Stephen Mills choreographed “Poe / A Tale of Madness” to showcase the author’s troubled life of Poe.  “I think that dance is most effective when you can get to the metaphor of […]

Mar 17, 2024

UT Social Work Community Reacts to Planned Building Demolition

AUSTIN, Texas – The building currently home to the Steve Hicks School of Social Work will face a wrecking ball after this semester, as Texas Athletics plans construction of a new practice facility.  “I was surprised that they were taking down something that’s really important to the history of the university, but I was curious […]

Mar 17, 2024

Music America Strikes a Chord with Iconic Artifacts at LBJ Presidential Library

AUSTIN, Texas – The history of American music is now on display in the Live Music Capital of the World. The Bruce Springsteen Archives and Center for American Music created “Music America,” a touring exhibit currently at the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library. Music America features iconic artifacts such as the boots Gene Autry’s widow […]

Mar 17, 2024

Mozart’s Coffee Roasters Hosts Lunar New Year Celebration

AUSTIN, Texas — Lion dance performances, scrumptious treats, martial arts demonstrations and face painting attracted locals to Mozart’s Coffee Roasters on Feb. 24 for a Lunar New Year festival. Lunar New Year, a celebration across Asia, is a commemoration of the arrival of spring and the start of a new year based on the lunisolar […]

Mar 17, 2024

Cupid’s Undie Runners Drop Their Pants for Charity

AUSTIN, Texas — Around 150 people ran through the streets of Austin in February wearing nothing but their underwear to bring awareness to Neurofibromatosis. Cupid’s Undie Run benefits the Children’s Tumor Foundation, a national nonprofit dedicated to finding a cure for Neurofibromatosis (NF). Cupid’s Undie Run event director Meera Rajagopalan said the disease causes tumors […]

Mar 17, 2024

Central Texas Youth Breathe New Life Into State’s Nursing Industry

ROUND ROCK, Texas – Nearly 60 high school students were selected from across Central Texas to take part in the Nursing Academy at St. David’s School of Nursing last month, a program that aims to inspire prospective students to mitigate an ongoing crisis in the United States healthcare system. Coming from a family of medical […]

Mar 10, 2024

More Than a Thousand Protesters Rally at Capitol Against Texas’ New Immigration Law

More than a thousand marchers, many shouting “No SB 4” and “si se puede,” descended on the Capitol March 10 in protest of Senate Bill 4, a measure that enables local and state law enforcement to arrest people suspected of crossing the border illegally.
Last week the U.S. Supreme Court halted the law, which has become a flashpoint in the national fight over immigration enforcement, until at least March 13, as the court considers the measure’s fate.

Feb 28, 2024

As Younger Drinkers Forgo Alcohol, Bartenders Are Mixing Up More Booze-free Cocktails

The bartenders at the Roosevelt Room in downtown Austin are as likely to grate fresh nutmeg on your beverage as they are to spray black walnut oil inside your glass. It’s an experience, for sure, and it’s not just for those who love liquor, wine and beer.
“A cocktail is interesting whether it has alcohol or not,” said Armando Garza, a bartender at the Roosevelt Room.
The Roosevelt Room and other Austin bars are tapping into the trend of consumers forgoing alcohol when they go out for happy hours, gatherings and celebrations. A 2023 Gallup report found that only 62% of 18- to 34-year-olds said they had occasion to drink in 2021-23, down from 72% two decades ago.
“There’s almost as many reasons to abstain as there are people,” said a Missouri professor of psychological sciences.

Feb 16, 2024

‘Black Girls Don’t Wear Red Lipstick’ Exhibit Challenges Beauty Standards

The “Back Girls Don’t Wear Red Lipstick” photography exhibit at the Austin Central Library showcases 42 photos of Black women in varying poses, many wearing red lipstick, which historically has been taboo for African-American women.

Jan 30, 2024

Mexican Actor Says Latinos Can Change Texas Politics If They Vote

Latinos in Texas have the power to change the state’s political landscape if they vote in greater numbers, Mexican actor Tenoch Huerta Mejía told a group of about 200 Central Texas residents Monday. 
“Somos un chingo,” Huerta Mejía said, referencing the fact that Latinos are a large part of the Texas electorate.
Huerta Mejía, who starred in the movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” was invited to speak on the University of Texas at Austin campus by NextGen America, an organization working to promote progressive public policy and increase voter turnout.

Jan 28, 2024

Despite Texas Ban on Abortion, Pro-Life Advocates See More Work to Do in Post-Roe World

Texas Alliance for Life and thousands of supporters marched Saturday to the Texas Capitol, calling for more measures to protect Texas’ nearly all-encompassing ban on abortions. 
Texans from across the state began to march from the corner of 14th and Brazos street toward the Capitol amid honking horns and drivers leaning out their windows to hold up a middle finger. 
“We want to see abortion completely and totally abolished. Like now, not taking steps,” said one marcher.

Dec 11, 2023

AfroTech Conference Reveals Black Women’s Paths to Tech Are Legion

Deejay Jasmine Solano is spinning hip-hop, R&B, soul and funk at the front of ACL Live in Austin. The floor has been cleared of dozens of chairs from serious panel talks from earlier in the week, and now Black people, mostly aged 25 to 45, are two-stepping and doing throwback dances from their teenage years.  […]

Dec 11, 2023

The Enduring Spirit of Austin’s Underground Music Scene

Dim lighting illuminated the grunginess of The Parlor in Hyde Park on a recent Saturday, shedding slivers of light on a book release party for “A Curious Mix of People.” The scene was more akin to a high school reunion that united old friends and bandmates – which is exactly what authors Greg Beets and […]

Dec 07, 2023

Oh, Rats! Rodents on Campus Are UT’s Hidden Nightlife

 The sun has yet to rise. There is a stillness outside the G.B. Dealey Center for New Media, home to the University of Texas’ Moody College of Communication. The sidewalks are devoid of students — it’s far too early for them to begin their sleepy shuffle from dorm rooms to their 8 a.m. classes. The only sounds that disturb the silence are the occasional whoosh of a car speeding down Guadalupe Street and the piercing, steady clap ringing out ominously in the otherwise tranquil pre-dawn hours.
On this early morning, a university custodian walks toward the Dealey Center with arms outstretched. Despite the cover of darkness, his presence is clearly announced by the loud clapping of his hands as he approaches the building. 
The custodian claps to scatter the rodents that live in the south-facing courtyard of the communications building.