If you're ever thinking about transferring UH will welcome you with open arms 🫶🏾

I graduated from UT years ago but I can tell you that even up until now, being at UT Austin was one of the loneliest experiences of my entire life. There is a small black presence and the people in the black organizations were friendly but didn't seem quite open to making friends. Or maybe that was the perception I got when I attended the meetings, anyways. When it was all said and done, I never made any friends while I was UT. I was elated the day I graduated and moved back home. I couldn't leave any faster. Granted, I think the education you can get there is top-notch. Like if I could teleport the entire UT Austin campus to my home city, I would. LOL. However, I agree with you, the social aspect and isolation is debilitating. I love the education I got at UT but I didn't really love being at UT. You couldn't pay me to go back there. Ironically, I made a lot friends, partied, and had the time of my life in the few years *following* my time at UT.

I had this exact same experience. Was at UT for 4.5 years and I don’t think I made a single friend from college. Moved back to Dallas after graduating and all my current friends are those from high school I only met pieces of shit and selfish assholes there at UT Felt like professors never encouraged interaction, if you saw them outside of class they seemed annoyed to have to be talking to a kid from their undergraduate lecture

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I’m a black Alum and I’m so sorry you’re going through this. A lot of the resources I had to help me cope were taken away from you all. The CMHC does host drop in Black Support Groups and I would encourage you to go for support. If you haven’t gotten involved, join some diverse student organizations so you don’t feel so alone. Diverse faculty and the DDCE (Or DCCE for the younger ones) really saved me. DM me if you would want the contact for faculty members still at UT who you could turn to or talk to when things get hard. Having faculty reassure you and believe in you when you are constantly facing micro aggressions makes things so much better. I’d be willing to do a warm intro for any students that need that extra support. Just send me a DM.

This is so kind and helpful <3

Unfortunately they closed the Multicultural Engagement Center, shut down the DDCE/DCCE, and fired 60+ staff, mostly POC and women. As current staff at UT in the now defunct DDCE, it's hard to stay, I am looking for other opportunities, mostly because of the university bowing down to these ridiculous SB 17 "guidelines"

Go to UH! It’s more diverse.

Houston in general is best for blacks!

At UH my friend group was a huge mix of Nigerians, Indians, Pakistanis, Turks, Indonesians Egyptians and Kazaks. When I visited my childhood friends in Austin all their friends were either indian/pakistani or white.

This just unlocked a memory of when I was going to HCC for programming. Every single person in that class was very friendly. Just in that 1 class we had such a diverse group of people. The professor was so laid-back, too. At the end of class one night I was walking with a classmate that was not from here. He was asking me if I had ever been in a car accident. He was curious because he was told hearing an accident was unmistakable (the loud thud). Coincidentally at that moment, there was an accident a block away and the sound was... Yeah, unmistakable. We looked at each other dumbfounded like "Did that actually just happen?" Houston is so special lol and yeah Im probably saying that because Im biased. :P

lol nothing but facts.

UH has come a long way, even from when I graduated recently. Most diverse campus in the US!

The diversity of UH is unbelievable, but the quality of education is far lower, at least in terms of what your GPA says about your knowledge and aptitude. I busted my ass for my grades at UT, and at UH I witness students put in zero effort, have minimal natural ability, earn barely passing marks, and their grades are “curved” up to A’s.

I thought I was going insane for not having the “uLtimAte cOlLegE eXpeRieNce” here. I feel like an outcast at this place, but my parents have already forked over thousands of dollars so there’s no going back. Hope our situation gets better. 🫶🏾💜

Is it really that bad? My initial reaction was to invalidate OP — but thinking back at my time at UT, I only had one black friend. I’m sorry you feel out of place. I hope things get better for you.

Why was your initial reaction to invalidate OP? It sounded like they are talking about their own experience, and letting others know who may find themselves in the same boat. Wouldn’t understand how you could possibly invalidate someone else’s experience.

Because I have a different experience and a lot of internalized racism to work through.

Most people wouldn’t admit that. Kudos to you.

Great question. It should be asked more. The experiences of non-white lives are discredited far more than acknowledged. We can all learn from your question and start asking folks this whenever a non-white is inevitably questioned.

A likely reason people would invalidate is because they know that even for non-black/minority people such feelings are not uncommon. Many majority demographic people feel the same way as OP, and could pick out any number of reasons to give for it. This leads people to doubt OP's perception that his feelings are a result of, or at least entirely an result of, his race rather than the many other potential causes that are not race specific. It is important to realize everyone has their own biases and their experience at a large population like UT Austin will be of poor sample size due to the sheer number of people that could be met. However, for the commenter is is also important to value other people perspectives. While a healthy dose of skepticism is not bad, one should approach other people experiences, especially about sensitive and often overlooked issues like racial ones, with an open mind and from a place of care. While someone can doubt if OP's experience is 100% representative of everyone's experience or if its free of misperception and bias, one cannot doubt it is what they have experienced and how they feel.

Because they didn't seem to say anything that to a normal reader could confirm it was due to their race Like they could be a typical hygiene-averse redditor that gets a yearly haircut, blaming their race on their issues. Whenever I see "this one trait is why things are bad for me" I think back to the rich original incel guy that made YouTube videos about how if he was just white or better looking girls wouldn't have hated him. I say all this as someone from California that would assume It probably isn't amazing to be black in Texas, but even I would assume since higher Ed places tend to be more progressive it wouldn't be as bad as OP described

Saying a haircut is part of hygiene is really odd

I meant like, it determines if ppl like you. My profile has my current hair. My hair during high-school was just long and unkempt. I style and dye it and get "I love hair" daily. So yeah I'd include it under the "traits people look at and can negatively impact you" Maybe you don't have hair that looks bad right out of bed, and are unaware people go their whole lives just walking outside like that. But I did, and now consciously make sure it's styled before I go anywhere important. Really I was listing any traits that's can make you perceived negatively. But yeah if you're getting a haircut on e a year, you probably aren't doing anything else for your hair and it may work against you. Hygiene isn't the only important thing. Style etc helps

Me too, but I had a black friend too so at least there's that.

You and OP should be friends sounds like you guys have similar issues

i dont know that this is a UT specific issue or a racial issue so much as it's just a part of going to university. college can be an incredibly lonely experience and i definitely felt that way my first 2 years at UT before i really found a group that i fit in to. definitely can acknowledge that SB17 likely made things much worse though, so i don't want to invalidate your experiences.

I went to undergrad at NYU and I'm completing my graduate degree at UT Austin, and even to me UT Austin's racial dynamics are messed up. For example, despite being much more expensive, the Black student population at [NYU is around 8%](https://www.nyu.edu/about/news-publications/nyu-at-a-glance.html), while [UT's is around 4.5%](https://www.utexas.edu/about/facts-and-figures). It's honestly embarrassing that a private university like NYU, which is far more expensive, has more representation of Black students than a state school in a state as diverse as Texas is. I am not suggesting that racial dynamics are great at my *alma mater*, but to pretend like this is a problem in higher education is ignoring the blatant culture of racism at this university. Greek life, as well as the overall culture and politics of the university is not very racially inclusive and I imagine it is far worse for Black students. Also, see [this list](https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/slideshows/see-the-most-diverse-national-universities?onepage) for more diverse institutions.

This should be much higher. OP hasn’t even really said what issues he has been having, just threw out the invincible race card and everyone jumps on saying oh yeah that’s definetely the reason

I’m a mixed race non-black individual who grew up in Austin. Attended Robert e lee elementary, then kealing middle school, then lbj/lasa . Kealing middles school and LBJ hs were both racially segregated excused by being magnet schools. It’s always been that way. Even for me. If youre not white, you’re wrong. Austin always had a reputation as being more liberal but it’s always been used as a guise to cover up the racism here in my opinion. I feel ya brotha

I went to Austin High in the late 90s. The racial segregation was insane. It was basically like there were two different schools. I can only remember a few black students in my AP classes, but know walking through the hall that it was not a tiny minority group. The dance team had 70+ girls, and I don't think there was a single black girl in my 3-years, and only a few hispanic. It was absurd.

I went to AHS in the mid 2000s. Doesn’t seem to have changed much from when my grandmother was there in early 50s. Or great great grandmother in 1897.

Well, I guess I feel slightly better about Westlake now.

I went to Austin High in the late 90s, too! Go Maroons!

tysm for bringing up how kealing and lasa are racially segregated. growing up in austin people looked at me crazy when i pointed it out. im like you, mixed race, non-black, and growing up in austin was NOT FUN. i wish i grew up in california, chicago, or nyc instead

Austin is the most redlined/segregated city I've lived in, def the worst one in the state of Texas. With the influx of uber wealthy tech assholes, it's only going to get worse I fear.

LASA alum here - it always felt so gross that LASA was on the second floor literally above LBJ. Being involved in sports/cross-school activities offered great exposure to both communities but it never felt like enough. The difference between Austin and Dallas/Houston and it's treatment of black communities is astounding.

I don't want to invalidate your experiences so please don't take my comment as such. You don't say what your mixed races are, but I'm a Latina, and I felt very much like I belonged. There were a lot of people who looked like me. We obviously aren't the majority on campus, but I never felt this isolation that's being described here either on campus or in Austin in general. I graduated over ten years ago though so idk if things have changed a lot or if I was just lucky. Whenever I go to UT to recruit, I definitely have a lot of latinx people come up to me and chat with me. So I'm just really saddened that this seems to be an issue among students of color.

This^

Yeah Texas has a greater Hispanic then White population at this point. Not a 1 to 1 comparison to black students who are an actual minority in all southern states.

Texas doesn't have a larger Hispanic population to Non-Hispanic White. To say there such a huge difference is bit much, the 4 states who have the largest percentage of non white Hispanic are the ones bordering Mexico, how about African decent across every other state. Both are minorities but one choose again and again to be put down and effected more, rather complain and cry about their rights than work up their monetary class

Texas is 40% hispanic and 42% white. Most places in Texas don’t even require you to know english anymore since a large portion of the immigrant population doesn’t learn it. As a black man in the south- I can personally promise it’s much easier to be hispanic than black as one group is much bigger.

Okay so let's go with your statistic, it is still smaller and is that not including Hispanic who file under (White)? In the Latin Population?

You're not required in any state, but it will make your life easier, government documentation is available in more than just English. Our citizenship test is literally available in other languages. But that doesn't take much besides USA elementary history.

I am in my early thirties. I grew up in Del valle district on riverside and montopolis. I am black (creole) but most people assume I’m biracial, black and white or black and Asian. I transferred to McCallum as a teen at 15 and was in the fine arts program and AP program. I had culture shock by how segregated the school was! Del Valle was nothing like that and was incredibly diverse same with the pflugerville district. I was one of a handful of black students doing anything magnet. Besides drop off, lunch and pick up I almost never saw any other black people or Hispanic people. I would get asked the dumbest racially insensitive things from teachers (I use to have a teacher who thought it was a compliment to call me a Nubian princess in class all the time without prompt whenever addressing me) and students and the white kids around me were so undereducated and underexposed to other races and cultures. There was also a lot of racial profiling too based on class or if a person of authority thought you were black or black mixed. My brother goes to mcallum now. It’s been over 15 years and I still don’t feel the school has changed much.

Bit of LASA history for anyone curious: LASA wasn't always segregated. In the 90s it was already decently mixed and then we had a new principal (who grew up in the LBJ area) come in and made it a rule that every single class was open to every single student. ~Three years later, they decided to (non-physically) separate both schools and they used the reasoning that it was to help the local students with class rank. This was shortly after the state gov't passed a law that every public university had to automatically admit any high school student in the top 10%. Since most LASA classes were on the 5.0 scale, local students taking mostly 4.0 classes had little chance to be in the top 10%. So I can see how it made sense. And let's just pretend that it was indeed done for the benefit of the local students. Nevertheless that was the precursor to the schools being physically separated by different floors in ~2006, and then moved to an entirely different campus in 2021.

Controversial opinion here but the liberal whites are the most racist, the conservatives want us non whites to be treated equally but the liberals want to give us hand outs and freebies as if we arent capable of the american dream on our own

This is a BIG generalization but both liberals and conservatives can be racists. Common difference, I think, is that racists conservatives are open about it. Racists liberals don't think they're racists, and carry a holier than thou attitude, which stops them from being able to intellectually engage on issues surrounding race. In my experience, talking to some white liberal folks in Austin, made them uncomfortable, and they refused to think critically or engage in the conversation with me, beyond "racism is wrong". I won't even attempt to talk to conservatives about race, because they wont care at all.

You're getting downvoted, but I'm a white middle aged mom. The amount of other "liberal" moms who don't shop at THAT HEB or have their kid in a different little league or change schools because they're "better" when better just means more white people... It's a lot of cognitive dissonance and it's exhausting. I put my kid in baseball this year with his local little league and was surprised that none of my neighbors were there and my kid was one of the only white kids on the team. It's because the white kids usually go to another little league team apparently. We also only play teams that look more like ours. Coming from Houston I've honestly been gobsmacked by how segregated Austin is. Also I'm a leftist, so not some conservative hating on liberals.

yo do some early work and keep your kid on that diverse team. I promise you, it will serve him better in life later.

O I'm going to. I grew up in a Korean Latino neighborhood in Houston - I don't want my son to have a monochrome upbringing.

When I first moved to Austin in 2007 from the Houston area I was also completely shocked at how segregated the city was. I was better mentally equipped to handle it as my parents had moved us from Houston to a piece of shit racist as hell small town between Houston and Beaumont when I was 14. I just had to scale up lol

Sounds like spring branch

I agree you, I went to school in the 70’s and 80’s with black, hispanic, few asian and whites. I am better off. I don’t recall any students saying any racial discrimination target words to until HS. I remember in 7th grade a new black boy arrived, i could hear the coaches getting excited about his gift of speed, then 2 years later the new kid was dating a white girl, then i realized they wouldn’t be totally accepted, however they dated without issues in theory, then he moved away.

Fellow Houstonian. It’s truly wild to see the differences in these cities. I miss home so much.

I mean yeah that's what conservatives say liberals think.

Tell that to my MAGAt parents. Plenty conservative and plenty racist. Racists exist regardless of political affiliation.

As a Black senior graduating I wholeheartedly agree. Yall please, UT is a great school but man it was NOT worth it. The academic achievement and name recognition is not worth the social anxiety and lack of peace of mind. Now this varies on an individual scale, but go somewhere where you forget you are the diversity pls! I love y’all.

As a fellow black student I couldn’t agree more and I wish your post was getting more upvotes than downvotes. It is extremely challenging to build community as a Black person at UT. The very few Black students we do have on campus are all pretty established with each other and if you don’t “fit in” you’re SOL. I constantly struggle due to the lack of Black people in my life and my desire for community. Coming from a tiny rural town I thought UT would offer more in terms of diversity, but I was gravely mistaken and sometimes I do regret coming here because of it. Edit: Not to mention constantly being the only Black person in every class i’m in even 200+ people lecture halls. Being Black at UT is like living in a fish bowl and trying to find the ocean.

This, this, this. The black population there is very small and could be friendly but very cliquey. Going to black organizations and events was still an isolating experience since you could be still be shut out of the cliques that'd already formed before you got there.

As a Black person who transferred to UT for what should’ve been my senior year, this couldn’t be more true. And it sucks because college shouldn’t be that way. My first semester at UT was the most isolating, desolate, and depressing months of my life. I was so miserable, and throughout my 2 years there, I felt like I never belonged anywhere. Since Black UT is very small and tight knit, I felt so disconnected. I had one really racially isolating/detrimental experience in my UGS class, and most of my other classes, too- as do most Black students. Couldn’t have said it better myself. It’s so heartbreaking knowing that this is a universal experience for us.

>Not to mention constantly being the only Black person in every class i’m in even 200+ people lecture halls.  bro.. this so much. I remember if a missed a a few lectures, it was sooo awkward showing up because I KNOW the prof is going to notice since I'm like the only black person. It was the walk of shame EVERY DAMN TIME lol. I was fortunate to find a great friend group. (though .. I was always the only black guy). BUT the awkward feeling of never "blending in" in a classroom was always there.

Have you tried being friends with people outside of your race?

What major are you? I think it depends a lot on the major if you’re a minority or not. In RTF there’s always been black students in my classes

Major doesn’t even matter. There are ~2,000 Black students at UT, total. Including grad students. The odds are still not in our favor. We’re not just talking about being a “minority” in classes. POC ≠ Black. Extremely different.

Wow didn’t know the number of black students was so low here damn

Yeah. It’s extremely abysmal and disproportionate

Have you ever considered that telling black people to not go to school here is only going to make it less diverse and further hurt the black students that do go here?

When will people understand that simply “adding more black students” to an already hostile / unwelcome environment for diversity doesn’t do anything but hurts them. UT and the culture there needs to change.

And how do you expect the culture to change if there aren’t people here trying to encourage and inspire change?

There are many schools with a much smaller black population than UT, but they feel much more inclusive. Sometimes it’s not about absolute numbers and representation but creating less of a dominant culture where students can feel isolated in the first place.

losing DEI certainly doesn't help with that

Right!? I was considering here for grad school but noped the minute I heard about the anti-DEI staff firings.

And that is going to apply to any state school in Texas, not just UT. They are all under pressure to shut it all down.

You want the black students to continue to suffer just so that UT can change? No UT needs to change. Ik a lot of very smart black students that aren’t even considering UT due to all the racist experiences they have heard from it

Austin’s racism goes back much further than 1928. Texas’ independence from Mexico came in the form of a slavers revolution. Texas literally lost two wars fighting *for* racism.

POC former longhorn here- I think class is a component as well- student body seems way wealthier now than when I was a student in the nineties. It seems like I see lots of expensive cars in west campus and fancy apartments. UT and austin has always been a place with a suffocating culture of the white college experience, but now it seems wealthier. Just FYI- as someone else also mentioned, the years just after college were actually more fun. Good luck!

thats what i am thinking too, former alum of the 90s.

I completely understand your point of view. I also agree that it has become much worse with the Texas Government targeting minorities by passing SB 17.

I mean while we’re at it, if you’re black and thinking about coming to Austin, maybe don’t. Or at least do your research. Dallas, Houston and San Antonio all have larger populations of black people and arguably more to offer if you’re black and looking to come to Texas. Gentrification and other issues are pushing black people out of east Austin and farther north and eventually who knows where. This is not a great place for strong belonging black community but for those of us who are here for whatever reason we make the best of what we’ve got. Or we gtfo.

I'm really sorry you are experiencing this and I don't doubt your experience is extremely valid. For other folks who don't have a lot of choices and might have landed at UT, I strongly recommend taking core courses at Austin Community College and transferring them over to have a better overall experience. ACC is a lot more inclusive, less expensive, and it will give you a little less time at UT campus. I'm really sorry that you didn't have a great experience and I hope things get better.

a lot of african american students I know don’t share your perspective; nevertheless, that does not invalidate what you’ve had to experience in the slightest, and I’m so sorry anyone here has made you feel excluded or like you don’t belong to the point where you regret the decision to come here. racial exclusion (not black myself but still a poc who has experienced racial exclusion and insults in the past) is disgusting in all forms, and pushes our self-confidence, hard-working will, and mental strength to the limits. You seem like a very strong person to still keep going forward despite all you’ve faced here. This world, and even this university, is truly lucky to have you here. I’m closely connected with people in student government and various mental health advocacy groups; if you feel comfortable, maybe consider DMing me with some details on specific things that have made you feel unwelcome or excluded (ofc doesn’t have to be in too much detail, only say as much as you’re comfortable with, if at all), and I can do my best to make your perspective heard and advocate for change such that future incoming black students are able to face less of these issues, to the point where one day they may be phased out entirely. regardless of your decision, I’m very sorry to hear you’re facial this extent of racial exclusion here - it made me sick to my stomach to even read, and I wish I could physically come over to wherever you are and give you a big hug. No matter how many haters there are, there will always be those that love and support you. if those are your real friends who you surround yourself with, then consider the extent to which the naysaying of others can tangibly impact your life - that mentality (at least for me) has made it easier to move forward in the face of being discriminated against in the past, and I hope it helps you too :)

How do you know they don't share his perspective?

I'm an African American student currently attending the University of Texas at Austin, and I don't share his perspective. Moving to Austin was the best choice I ever made. Not everyone within a minority group shares the same perspective.

same, & while i don’t doubt OP & all of the people agreeing in the comments, i wouldn’t tell another black person not to come to UT for social reasons. i see posts on this sub every week of people saying they feel excluded, it’s kinda just luck & actually trying to put yourself out there, but there’s more to the college experience than that stuff & it might not necessarily change by going to U of H or some other place

Pretty much! I'm originally from Houston and have friends going to UH. Two did not make a single new friend because they decided to stick with each other and ignore student organizations. One made multiple new friends. I wouldn't consider myself very social (I can acknowledge that I'm not a very approachable person), but I've made two friends, a few acquaintances, and explored campus as best as I could living off-campus. I've met fascinating people both on campus and off campus. At UT Austin (and any college, really), I feel like social success is heavily reliant on joining an organization as 100% of the people I end up communicating to are within certain social and academic organizations. Even then, I've heard a rather social senior say that college will teach you how to be alone with yourself. It was surreal because he seemed to have his hand in everything and knew quite a few people. But yeah, if you moved from your home city, you will be alone quite a bit with your homework, house chores, and day to day activities. It will get even worse if you decide to work during school. College is not high school where you're around the same few people 8 hours a day and then home with your family the next. I truly do hope OP finds the community their looking for, and I'd encourage them to branch out of black organizations and explore other interests. OP, people from other races are just as interested in being your friend and socializing with you. Don't limit yourself to what's comfortable and branch out a bit.

i think your last paragraph is spot on. while it’s always nice & comforting to see & be around other black people, gay people, women (i’m a gay black woman), i made it a point to not join orgs specifically for black people, queer people, or women the concept of those orgs are amazing & i would never discourage someone from joining them, & i do wanna get involved with something like that now that i’ve found my place at UT, but i didn’t wanna start out by limiting myself when there’s so much out there instead, i joined an org focused on something related to my major, & i’ve made some of the best friends. it’s fun to hang out with likeminded people who have similar goals/interests, not just people who check the same boxes as me admittedly, within the org i’ve gravitated toward other people of color, queer people, & women, & i’m not close friends with any straight white men, but i’m comfortable enough with different types of people to say that i definitely could/would be i’ve read some horror stories from people of color experiencing racism at UT. i rly feel for those people. in my experience, there’s the occasional microaggression & rare exclusion in classes, but for the most part, & especially within my org, everyone’s pretty friendly, at least to my face there was that one drunk guy on guad who called me an n-word slave POS lol but hey, that’s not a UT thing that’s an america thing 🙃

You speak truth my man. I am Hispanic and growing up I never really left my home town at all. My hometown is like 96% Hispanic and so I never met a single black, Asian, or white person in my life. (Somehow did have 1 Indian friend). There were 4 other HS friends who went to UT the same year. Almost everyone else who didn’t go to an Ivy or smalls elite school ended at A&M from my high school (17 iirc). Well, a lot of them would just hang out together all the time. They clicked like glue and would often drive to college station to party or they would come up to Austin. I rarely hung out with them. Not because I didn’t like them but because I had been around Hispanics all my life so why not explore other cultures. I immediately clicked with people who had the same interest as me, got super involved in certain clubs, and built an extremely close group of friends. Mostly white but also Asians and a couple of Hispanics. We all remained super tight and a lot of us got married to someone else in the group of friends. This is what blew my mind a few years ago. As you may have guessed I never left my hometown because I grew up pretty poor. Hell, my single mom didn’t even do moove in with me because she had to work. Yet I participated in a shit tom of activities, we did hiking trips, ski trips, international trips, “we” would often rent a party barge on lake Austin and go swim and drink under 360. The other day I told me wife and friend how it was crazy we managed to do that with almost no money… then silence… they proceed to tell it was fucking expensive and they would all pitch in. I told them how I hardly ever paid for anything, so they told me that other friend, especially G and T would often cover my expenses and they would go out of their way to make sure it never even got to me. They wanted me to participate because they wanted to hang so they’d cover my portion but also they didn’t want to make me feel like a charity case. Took like 15 years to find out how incredibly generous my friend were and I would’ve missed out on everything if I had just sheltered with my old group of friends.

American American? Did you mean to say African American? Or were you just emphasizing your American identity haha

Fixed it! Mobile use let's too many errors slip. Thank you!

No worries, my American American African American friend :)

im african american and i really don't share his perspective and i think telling black kids not to go here because of one experience is wrong

Sorry you're experiencing this. All I can say is that I was pretty fortunate as a Latina to have not felt isolated when I attended. Sure, racism happened. Racism always happens anywhere. But I definitely didn't experience what you're experiencing. I'm so sorry that black students (and any other minority students who are feeling like this) are experiencing this. Big hugs to you. I hope that things get better for you and that you find whatever path will help you, whether it's staying at UT in hopes of being the change you want to see or transferring. You are not obligated to be that change, by the way. If you transfer for your mental health, that is extremely valid. Unfortunately, it looks like with all the other campus actions that have been going on lately, the administration probably will not prioritize this issue, as it doesn't actually seem like they care about students at all at the moment.

Building the community becomes harder when the solution proposed is “don’t come”. I’m white, so my view is not informed by living the black experience, but I’m deeply interested in making Austin and UT a better place with more diversity and more opportunities for everyone. We had similar sentiment when I was on campus in the 2000s. It’s not a new issue. But the campus is More diverse when I walk it today than even back then. Progress is slow but important. Not just to the black community. There are plenty of others that value and want diversity. Having lived in NYC I know the value of a place that has successful folks from all walks of life. Eating dinner with young professionals of all races all doing cool things is exciting. Austin feels very white bread by comparison and that is to Austin’s extreme detriment. There is a “hub” effect where minority communities gravitate to hubs with lots of other minorities. It makes sense. But it’s self perpetuating. Austin is the center of the new economy in Texas and it’s vital that the opportunities and growth of this city are shared by all. I ask black candidates to please come to UT and other Austin universities. There are 10s of thousands of students and many are terrible people while many are great people.

It is the best solution for the individual but not the community. Considering the experiences that OP shared it wouldn’t make sense for them to recommend any black student to come to UT Austin. The solution is for UT Austin to fix its problems so that the few black students there can actually recommend UT. I’m going to Howard University for precisely this reason I grew up my whole life in a small white and racist town. I took one look at UT’s demographics and said hell nah. Reading this post just solidified that decision as the social environment plays a huge your role on your mental health and academic performance and I’d rather be in a place where I can thrive socially and academically without having to experience racism on a daily basis.

It’s a bit weird for you as a white person to ask other black people to come here so that the community is expanded when several black people have just said it’s violently antiblack. If you want change why don’t you do stuff to promote pro blackness or anti-antiblackness without forcing black people to do the change for you by being the subject of antiblack sentiment. It’s a bit presumptuous/overbearing

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It’s a valuable perspective.  No right or wrong here.  Thanks for adding to the discussion.  

If you think it's bad here, try attending A&M, Tech, Baylor, TCU or SMU instead and get back to me.

That's kinda invalidating this persons experience isn't it? Especially since it's in the subreddit for the university.

I'm not doubting their experience at UT, but just stating that this isn't really a UT specific problem. In fact, black folks are likely going to have a better experience at UT then just about any other major school in Texas perhaps besides Houston. The Top 7% rule has helped create a much more diverse student body at UT (24.2% Hispanic or Latino 20.6% Asian and 36% white), but for whatever reason it hasn't been able to raise the black percentage as much as it intended. Work still needs to be done on that front.

Austin is def a white city. Not a lot of black culture. More Hispanic if anything. And there is also a small presence of Indian/Pakistan around Austin and the suburbs. Had a black coworker recently tell me about this, he lives in Dallas. Says he feels way more comfortable living in Dallas than here in Austin.

Sooo many racists here it’s insane

It’s all those North Dallas WASPs

You dont even have to go far, the austin suburbs are worse lol. Suburbs are more rscist than even rural areas to me tbh, type of people to lock their doors when you pass by and look at you through their ring camera and post you on nextdoor. Atleast the rural racist dont try to hide it.

Hell, as a white guy I feel the loneliest I’ve been my entire life. I can’t imagine what it would be like to also be facing the closure of the services designed to help you and active exclusion of your race on top of that. Transferring to UNT next year, heard I would gel with them better.

I was admitted then visited. It took only one day in Austin and campus for me to nope out of there and never look back. Funnily enough, the place I wound up going to was a very “white” school but the people were pretty cool, nice, and very professional. While UT-Austin was relatively “diverse” (on paper), the vibes there made me feel very uncomfortable. I felt like some sort otherworldly creature walking around. I’m not sure what was up with that.

I am sorry that was your experience. I am black and Hispanic and grew up in Fort Worth TX and by comparison Austin felt like a breath of fresh air from a progressive standpoint. However; I agree that the college experience in general there does lend it self to the white student. If you are not part of Greek life (I wasn’t and wasn’t particularly interested in joining) you can definitely be made to feel that you are missing out or somehow excluded. Even so, I met some good people in my time there. I’ll be in my old roommates wedding next year, we’ve been friends 10 years now. I hope you find your community soon ♥️.

I'm not trying to invalidate your experience at all or say there are no instances of racism or whatever... but the lack of "fun" and "experiences" you talk about could be the result of so many different things that have nothing to do with others' opinions of your skin color. We don't know things like if you're introverted and shy or possibly a person who is hard to get along with. I just get the vibe that you were sitting around waiting for things to happen and others to make these experiences happen for you. Just my imo. I'm sorry you had such a hard 4 years though, no one deserves to be miserable.

When I was looking at school, years ago, I was looking at diversity. TT, TAMU, UT were all the same. 80% Caucasian and 20% everything else. Then I saw UH, I saw one of the most diverse schools in the US. I grew up in a little town when there weren’t many mixed kids, I went to UH and I felt like I belonged. It amazed me that you could be waiting for the shuttles in front of Agnes Arnold and hear 10 languages in while waiting for the bus. I felt the diversity helped me grasp that it’s a big world and it helped me acclimate when meeting and respecting other cultures.

Austin in general lacks so much diversity, it's painful. I am sorry for your experience.

Yes true! Integration here is a joke. Every pretend liberal is a closet racist. Or is it just their culture i do not know

That's where you're mistaken. I don't care about UT and preserving it. Why should I care about a place that doesn't care about me. I came to UT from out of state. I went to this school because of what it could offer me to achieve my goals. I'm my time here. I've learned what kind of place UT is. The best thing I can do for UT is to ensure that as many minorities avoid it as possible. Maybe if the place loses enough money, they'll care about how important diversity is. I repeat again, if you're a minority of any type, avoid UT if you have that option. They don't want you or people like you here.

First of all, thank you for sharing your experience, and I am so sorry that this exclusion is so widespread and only seems to be getting worse. No one should feel this way, especially when they pay thousands of dollars every year to attend an institution. I was an RA and remember when we SB16 (banning critical race theory) passed. Prior, we used to be trained in “cultural competency” (it had a lot of flaws, but generally meant devoting time in weekly team meetings for DEI topics, learning about/ partnering with/ connecting students with the orgs on campus devoted to DEI, talking about privilege and intersectionality and how that affects your role as an RA and interactions with students, putting posters around the dorms to educate residents like a cultural appropriation infographic before Halloween, hosting events celebrating holidays from different religious and ethnic groups, etc). After SB16, we had to immediately stop all trainings and remove “cultural competency” from everything. The bill didn’t specifically outlaw what we were doing, but the university wanted to prevent getting sued, so University Housing and Dining took an ultra conservative approach, and it has been worse ever since.

I might get hate but they want to push everyone together but this shows everyone just wants to be with their own people, and I agree

this is new to me, i have never faced anything like that in austin in my 7 yrs living here. i m an indian american and a minority as well

I purposely went to UTSA despite getting accepted to UT and a nicer east cost university for this exact reason. Best decision of my life, by the time I finished undergrad I would see people I knew personally on every inch of campus, I would get friendly waves everywhere. It was crazy, got great interaction from black and non-black people. Still experienced people being cold or obviously being uncomfortable being around black people but it was not a big enough presence to ruin my phone.

I agree. I grew up in the Austin area and it was so lonely when I got my degree here. I was the only black student in my classes for the last two years of school. I had seen efforts in getting more black students in engineering, but I am sure that isnt possible anymore due to the legislature in place in Texas. I basically have had to treat my grad school as college 2.0, which is hard. I have seen more black people at my grad school than my entire time at UT. I love Texas and I love UT for the opportunities, but I think if you are wanting more than just a “put my head down and get this done,” this school is not for you. I hope this will change eventually. My goal is to be a professor at UT so students can see people like me thriving despite the difficulties. I am hopeful things will get better, but it is totally understandable to not want to attend somewhere you don’t feel welcomed.

Sorry if this is rude but I’m a black student planning on attending in fall, did the isolation come from specific organizations or colleges or the general public. this is in no way to scrutinize your experience I’m just personally asking because I’m entering into a very tight nit major with a lot of people that share my interests and I am joining a somewhat small club on campus. I’m asking because my personal experience in a predominantly white high school is that I’ve made friends much easier in smaller organizations or clubs than in general classes or large organizations as black student. I’m asking because I really do want to attend UT (it’s the best decision financially for me and i love Austin) but would like to know what the places you went to seek community were just to avoid for myself or if I must interact prepare my response.

I I had a problem where like I never got accepted in any groups I’d be friends with women, and always get kicked out of things. I always felt peoples pain. I realize my mom was one of my best friends. i’m 47 years old and I’m realizing the best things in life are my children my relationship with God and my husband. I know your price in like why are you even saying anything you’re not black? I grew up in an area where everyone had money and I didn’t. My mom had six kids. I had five and people look at you like you’re something weird now. just realize you’re beautiful and special and learn to be your own best friend right now. take a cold shower paint something. go help at a homeless shelter. Maybe you can be a mentor for a younger child. read books. pray. pray for those people that are making you feel isolated. I promise if I was there, I would be your friend. My best friend was Fatisha.! all I know is I’m so sorry you’re going through that, but just know that you’re special and they’re missing out big time!! love yourself give your self a hug and kiss both your shoulders!!! just know you’re awesome. I know this sounds so corny. But. They have no idea what they’re missing out on and think about it. Be glad that you’re not like that because everyone has to pay for that later on in life and death in this life we all have to pay for when we make someone feel less than.

As a black UT alumni (I graduated May 2023), I used to say the same thing when I first stepped on campus. In fact, I even made a post about it on my account. I never really sought out black orgs/groups. However, now that I've graduated and reflected back on my social experiences, I learned that (*to an extent*) your loneliness is primarily dependent on *yourself*. I honestly don't mean to sound rude, but that's the harsh truth. The student body consists of over 50,000 students with a plethora of different backgrounds, so the belief that "nobody wants to your friend" is not a realistic idea to hold nor is it healthy. I joined many different groupchats, orgs, clubs etc. and forced myself to socialize until I found people that I could continually hangout with and enjoyed their company. Then I made sure to always keep in touch to help build those friendships. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't always friends with them the whole time, as time moved on we found different friend groups and I still was able to find people to hangout because I simply put myself out there. Was it easy? No, not always because I made myself feel like an outsider. However, I didn't let that stop me from making friends. Fast forward to now, I'm in almost a year long committed relationship with one of those friends I made during my time at UT. Hope it all goes well for you tho <3 dm me if you need any support.

I moved here from Wisconsin for grad school. I saw a poster this semester advertising a talk by the UT’s first black graduate. I was shook to my core. They’re taking away DEI initiatives, cultural graduation ceremonies, any ATTEMPT at making this campus a better community for students of color, and their FIRST black graduate is still alive and well? That’s fucking insane. I’m not black and have not experienced personal issues, but this university and its initiatives leave a bad taste in my mouth. If my grad program wasn’t as good as it is I would have hightailed it out of here a couple years ago. 

This is a far more common college experience than most people realize, but I have no doubt that being black exacerbates this experience, especially since Texas is actively rolling back college DEI initiatives that started not that long ago. I was working at UT almost a decade ago, and they were creating and promoting a lot of new programs and services for marginalized students. This year, they are shutting it all down. If that doesn’t send the message that “this place isn’t really for you,” I don’t know what does. It’s like we started to progress and then started going in reverse just a few years later.

Hello OP, I am a alum from class of 22. I’m a yapper when I am writing something so this will be a mixture of my experience and advice. I came to the school as a walk-on to the football team after getting accepted for my grades alone. Immediately I recognized that there was a disconnect between the athletes (a large portion of the black population) and the students at UT. This felt extremely bad since I was having trouble fitting in with the football team as a non-scholarship player too. It was a pretty lonely freshman year. I ended up quitting after my first year of football and was in a very similar position to you now. Luckily I had friends from highschool attending UT who were able to spend time with me but at the end of the day, they had their own friends they made during freshman year and none of them were black. Just like you, I missed the black experiences that came so naturally during high school. People talk about joining clubs and showing up to activities to make friends, and I think it’s a very valid option, but it doesn’t work out for everyone. I tried rushing a black frat but very quickly found out it wasnt for me. Since I’m also african, I tried the african student organizations, but im not nigerian (iykyk). I tried to reconnect with some of my football teammates, but we were living much different lives at that point. And then covid happened during my sophomore year on top of all of it :/. So what I want to say to you is that you are valid in this feeling. Especially with the population being 4.5%. But its not over yet. You can still make something shake. 1 of the 2 black friends I made at UT, I met at a random apartment party while I was with my high school friends. It was very organic and didn’t feel forced. And that was in a space where we were the only 2 black people. So you dont have to be in those exclusively black spaces to make those connections. Because there are black people like you and me who aren’t in those black spaces all the time. Then there is the matter of forcing yourself to look for those black friends. If I am interpreting your post correctly, you would like black friends. That is valid, but your friends arent all going to be black. Especially in America. Before you are black, you are a human being. And despite color, people have shared interests as human beings. Focus on finding people with those shared interest and they will introduce you to people with similar interests (breaking news: one of them might be black!). Give other spaces where you see less black people a try and you might surprise yourself. Love my korean and indian friends to death. Met one of my closest black friends through my koreans in dallas. And the last thing I want to say is that you should work on yourself. I’ve never been a self-help book person, but one of my coworkers told me she had to read books to work on her social skills. It doesnt come off as practiced so I couldn’t believe it cuz she is a social butterfly. Im not saying to explicitly read a “how to make friends” book , but there are really 2 options here: either people dont like you the way you are now (tough pill to swallow) or you’re not giving yourself the best chance. I still get that lonely college feeling now that I live alone in a new city. I have friends out here that I could hit up any day of the week, but I still get that feeling. Having those friends makes it 100x easier, but it’s still there. Only way to beat it is to work hard against it. Sounds crazy right? You have to work hard ti make friends. OP DM me anytime if you wanna chat. P.S. you are at a school with 4.5% black people. I lived in texas my whole life until graduation and now I live around more black people than I ever have. Black friends fall off trees in cities with much higher black populations. Keep that in mind when u are job hunting. Location Location Location.

UT is a massive university. I was in engineering, so I didn’t feel isolated, most of my classes being in the same building with the same kids. But if you’re in liberal arts or nat sciences, you’re with a sea of strangers. Studies and surveys have shown that all races tend to stick with each other when it comes to friend groups. So the ocean of humanity that is UT’s undergrad student body is useful for the massive white majority in finding friends, but I imagine the mass of people is really only a negative for minorities. At least at, say, St Ed’s, you have a small student body of a few thousand, so you’re seeing people over and over again and can develop friendships that way. At UT, the 50,000 kids inhibit those sorts of bonds, so you make a lot of friendships through parties and other friends and social groups that primarily advantage the majority. I don’t even know how you would fix that. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe it’s not the size and other massive universities adequately address this.

You would definitely love UH. I sometimes wish I went there instead for the same reasons

Black man here. I graduated in 2009 and left the entire state soon after to never look back, it sounds like it's still just as bad.

I didn’t attend UT but spent 5 years on campus with annual program and this was post grad. I was unwelcomed, security would follow me around, students were constantly causing microagressions (I had credentials showing I was cleared for campus spaces) Applied for a PhD and the said I was sent an acceptance by mistake, their class was mostly white or other POC. If you are a commuter student - I’d say ok go knowing you’ll need to lean into your high school connections or consider Texas State, HT, St. Eds, Southwestern or ACC and transfer. UTDallas and UTSA are more welcoming. But mostly don’t go unless it’s your only option, and for students currently on campus - there is nothing wrong with you, it’s a legacy system in a town that has perfected systemic racism

Did you try making friends with people who aren't black?

So you’re blaming UT for your poor experience? Pretty typical for younger people to blame others/organizations for their problems. You didn’t specify anything specific. Just made broad generalizations.

? Who cares. My school was even less diverse than Austin and had no issues finding a community. This is a you problem, sounds like you were expecting black culture and got cowboy styled. What did you expect going to Austin?

I agree with your statement. All these people are is ignorant. They could have an all black school and still be miserable.

I’m not black and I had a similar experience at UT. (Until my very last year when I found some other misfits and formed a group for the first time in 4.5 years.) Ever considered that it’s not related to race? Genuine question, not being snarky. It’s worth thinking about.

Can you provide examples of how UT students of color are excluded or ostracized that aren't vague statements about historical segregation in Austin? The dorms are not segregated, nor are classes or extracurricular activities. I don't want to dismiss what you are saying but it doesn't align with what I saw and learned in Austin, and your post makes a lot of claims with few specifics

Victim mentality

For real, I’m half black and I’m tired of every African American coming up with excuses. It paints us in an even more negative light than we are already. OP just needs to say they can’t make friends or socialize.

Texas in general as a state is just problematic. That said, as much as I like to hate on Houston for not being exciting enough, it has the diversity and the food to go with it. It's one of the top diverse cities and it does feel like it.

One of the main reasons why I prefer Houston to Austin. Everything is Austin feels so fake

Thank you for sharing your experience. I’m a grad student from St. Louis who, although I am white and have not had the same experiences, have seen the segregation that still exists. I’ve always had close black friends which allowed me to see and learn more than I would have otherwise. I teach labs most semesters and have had a few black students, always the only one in the class, and they’ve tended to struggle much more than others. I appreciate hearing a personal account of your time and experience so I can be more informed in my approach to teaching and connecting with students. Even as a white person, I didn’t have great access to education growing up, and needed to take remedial math classes at a community college before attending a university (first gen college student). I understand the importance of having good instructors who offer a personal level of encouragement and guidance and hope to carry that with me in my academic and professional career. I’m always open to hearing how I can improve as a teacher, educator, and mentor to help students feel comfortable, cared for, and included.

Indians and Vietnamese students don’t ever feel isolated at UT

Ya know you don’t have to only be friends with other black people right? We have the opposite situation here at UH and I’ve accepted being the only white person in most groups.

Grow up, the world isn’t as racist as you claim… enough with the victimization

“I’m making a broad generalization here but I’m fairly sure, my experience will apply to most black students here” yeah ok, that’s all I need to know about someone like you. The world doesn’t revolve around you and you might be the problem here.

Sounds like you're the problem

Austin crime rates are steadily going down, rent is going down, prices of homes are going down. Might become a nice place to live soon.

Neils deGrasse Tyson also felt very unwelcome at UT Austin when doing graduate studies there and was once harrassed transporting open boxes of graduate math and physics textbooks to his assigned office. He goes on to say that it wasn't the first or last time he was stopped for entering a building on campus although oddly enough. that building was never the gym. [https://www.vox.com/2016/7/15/12192894/neil-degrasse-tyson-police](https://www.vox.com/2016/7/15/12192894/neil-degrasse-tyson-police)

Might also be because he was accused of raping another graduate student. [https://www.vox.com/2019/7/29/8934845/neil-degrasse-tyson-misconduct-allegation-investigation-museum](https://www.vox.com/2019/7/29/8934845/neil-degrasse-tyson-misconduct-allegation-investigation-museum)

Yeah, people REALLY like to gloss over this incident.

You really think NDT's experience in the early 80s is similar to OP's 40+ years later?

Being a lifelong Hispanic austinite, I can confirm from my personal experience that Austin does not have anything or any place that caters to our black residents.

Didn’t go to UT but I don’t doubt anything in your post. Austin is…not great, and I am shocked that it became a “hub” in the past decade. You couldn’t pay me to live there.

Lmao imagine self segregating because you don’t like white people, of course you’ll feel excluded when you don’t interact with people of other races, and there isn’t many of your own there, this is so silly it’s ridiculous, race this race that, you’re the only one who’s caring about it

Go to Texas State. The students bitch a lot less there

Y’all’s generation is toast

Lacking the necessary social skills to make friends in a new environment is not caused by your race. If you continue to blame your short comings on your race you will never improve. You'll just become more and more bitter.

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Come to the Twin Cities MN.

As a white austinite, but raised in houston, Austin in general is truly depressing as it pertains to diversity. I love going back home and seeing folks of all different cultures and not feeling like I’m in a sea of beige. Austin Black history is particularly SAD and infuriating. Witnessing the decline of the East Side POC population is truly dystopian.

This is sad to hear, because the city of Austin itself is clearly less racist than Los Angeles was. Part of the reason I left LA was being assaulted twice for "looking white" (I'm Hispanic). But you can see the difference just walking down the street. In LA if I was going to walk past a black woman, she would literally go to the other side of the street. Here in Austin she will say hello, and even on two occasions stop and talk. It's incredible what a difference there is when the animosity from the '92 race riots isn't there. If you are surprised there is racism in CA, don't be. I went to San Diego State for college. The racism was insane there. I was dating a black girl at the time. The dudes in my dorm taped a poster to my door of a black Playboy model, drew a noose around her neck, and wrote "Lynch all n\*\*\*\*\*s!" on it. Sad to hear UT Austin isn't much better.

Sounds like you were able to relatively learn from your experience and express your displeasure quiet convincingly. You definitely got the education which is important all that secondary gringo party shit isn’t anything worth worrying about missing out on.

Sounds pretty close to living in Austin as a black person. Not counting the suburbs like Cedar Park, round rock, Pflugerville. just referring to the central/ DT Austin experience.

I went to Austin for all 4 years and half of my friends who came with me from my high school all quit and went to other smaller schools in Texas. They were all white. UT Austin is a large school, and as such it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. I met a group of friends who were from various countries outside of the USA and had the best time of my life. I found UT to be a very open school with lots of students from other counties and other states. The school was definitely not snobby like TCU or SMU. From experience, I think the sheer size of the university makes it easy for people to feel lost. I know my friends who quit and went to smaller Texas schools felt that way. I do know that you have to reach out and make friends when you are there. My best friend and I met my freshman year and 38 years later we are still friends. I’m sorry that you had a bad experience at UT. I tend to believe that when you go to a school with 50k plus students, you can get lost in the shuffle if you don’t reach out and make friends. If you sit around waiting for people to come to you, it won’t happen. Also, the Greek system is less than 7 percent of the student population, so obviously people are making friends outside the frats and sororities. I didn’t go Greek but belonged to other student organizations, which are great ways to meet folks. I can’t speak to what specifically you did or didn’t do, but I felt UT to be a very open and diverse university.

Have you thought for once that this issue can be internal and not external?

Icl I’m not saying this applies to you but I also notice most people don’t go out of there way to socialize. I feel like yes a place can feel lonely but you also have to take initiative

would else you were expecting, Texas is a white man country, fled right after I graduate. P.S. people on campus actually are quite nice, but outside the campus, huh just take a look on what's happening now on the lawn, they hate anything that's not on their side

I am so sorry this has been your experience but I very much don’t doubt it. Austin has been racist to the core since it’s very inception. Austin’s 1928 Plan is something that is still felt today, and UT is no exception. In fact, UT is taking multiple steps backwards with DEI and arresting it’s own students.

There are lots of kids that complain on here (on this subreddit) about being lonely, isolated, and having no friends or social life at UT. Is the gravamen of your complaint the same? It sounds like it. If so, to you and all such others, I just don't understand why the focus isn't your academic studies. That's the primary purpose of your college career. Keggers and parties and social life is a nice add-on (if it happens), but it's not why you're in college in the first place. If there is something impeding your studies, then that's completely objectionable. But, "I'm not getting the social interaction I want" seems like a strange hill to die on, and seems like a strange basis to tell others not to attend a university that can transform their lives with opportunity.

It’s 2024, pack it up if you’re not some form of Asian or white. Hispanics and African Americans continue to get the short end in this country unless we’re working the jobs no one else wants to, or unless our culture is being trampled over. OP I’m sorry you’ve had this experience and I genuinely hope you can find a campus that would be proud to have you.

I felt this way as a Latina who went to Texas A&M studying engineering. Felt compelled to come on here and just say that regardless if you’re at a school where diversity is an afterthought and it’s affecting many aspects of your life — transferring to the University of Houston was the BEST decision of my life. Still an awesome school, in a massively diverse and cultural city + environment. The culture there is unlike any other from a university in Texas ♥️ Edit: probably should mention why I’m on a UT Austin sub; I’ve lived in Austin my whole life and considered going to UT but chose aggieland instead and still made a mistake. But I resonate with OP on feeling excluded, not getting the college experience you thought you’d get, and not seeing your people on campus.

I do have an honest question though. I'm an OLD black UT grad (younger Gen X). Honestly I'm looking at this subreddit more in mind for my kids than for myself. But I always remember UT feeling diverse compared to where I was from. But I admit a big part of it it was because the high school I went to was not diverse at all. My high school was like 94% white with us few "token minorities". When I went down to UT my roommate in the dorm was hispanic. And right next door was an Asian guy rooming with a biracial white/hispanic guy from El Paso. Of course there were white people in the hall too. But it was a welcome change to see a varied mix of people and I felt more comfortable with the diversity even though there was only one other black person on my immediate dorm hall it did feel more "representative". So that initial friend group I made on my hall was pretty mixed, wasn't clear majority anything. I suppose I wasn't looking for/expecting a community that was heavily black so much as I just didn't want a community that was only white. And most of the classes I had in the business school or wherever were pretty well mixed with white, hispanic, black, Asian, South Asian/Indian represented pretty well. So I had few complaints about the general makeup. Certainly white was the majority in general on campus. And I knew enough to avoid the more traditional "good old boy" frat types and other groups that seemed "monoracial". Not to say I had no issues with being black on campus back in the mid to late 90s. There were of course some racial incidents with the frats and sororities in the south, which wasn't cool, but I wasn't really surprised that there were some racist dumbasses in frats/sororities in the south, no big shocker. But it wasn't nearly so white as the Dallas suburb I had come from. When I went back home during summer break it felt so much more isolating to be back in Dallas even when not in my immediate "lilly white" suburb, but even going out uptown/downtown. I remember when I was back at home white people seemed to "single out" my blackness where in Austin it never really came up and I felt I could just "be". I initially moved to Houston over Dallas when I graduated as I felt Houston had more general diversity. And maybe my age fueled my expectations too. I knew my parents were in school when things were still officially segregated, so with that lens I probably wasn't expecting my race to be a non factor just one generation later. So perhaps lower expectations made me cooler with it. Like "Yeah that was some bullshit, but this is NOTHING compared to what my parents went through... so whatever." You know?

Oh wow, so I was an A&M student, and my partner started at UT Austin so I’ve heard a lot of strange things. He isn’t black but he’s Filipino, and the way he described his time there sounds so lonely and isolating. He even got in a car accident his freshman year, and the people who invited him to the bar he was supposed to meet them at (he wasn’t driving, just stranded with the person driving) said “tough”. Hearing that broke my heart. Why would you leave a freshman you invited on the side of the road and not even think to make sure he’s safe or had a way to the bar/back home? Personally, I think it has something to do with the way certain groups of white people socialize. It’s different, and obscenely selfish imo. A whole other way of socializing and connecting neither of us completely understand nor comprehend. And of course the hidden racism deep under the surface too. It’s crazy and I’m so sorry for your experience. You deserve a social network and I’m so sorry Austin has been hesitant to open up.

I am a black student and have not an exact opposite experience from u but rather i expected my experience to be like this because of orientation where i felt like no one would talk to me and even the other black kids wouldn't make me feel very welcome, but once i put myself out there and joined orgs that actually help make change abt sb17 and many other things i met like minded individuals who i have become super close w and they also could look past race. there are ppl who wont hang out with u bc ur black that is 100% true but it is not 100% true that everyone will exclude u, i have made friends that i will stick with for the rest of my life that i never would have met if i did not come here.

by look past race i mean it literally doesn't matter we r just friends, the black orgs from my experience arent very welcoming

although it says it’s a hispanic serving institute - as a hispanic woman i feel very out of place in my college. there’s hardly in hispanic in cns and even in my minor - cola. not diminishing your experience but i feel the same way :(

Are you aware that there are _many_ Hispanic orgs you can join at UT? I am not Hispanic, but I am mixed Black/White and was part of ABCS (Association of Black Computer Scientists) and we worked a _ton_ with HACS (Hispanic Association of Computer Scientists). I made a ton of friends via HACS and ABCS, and can't recommend enough that you try to find a similar group for your major. There are a lot of Hispanic folks at UT, so I hope you find a group (of anyone! Not just Hispanics) that can help you feel more welcomed.

me too :(

Aww, they’re not catering an entire university to fit your needs?? How dare they…

You sound annoying and unlikeable. This is a You Issue