UTD has a culture problem. While President Prabhas Moghe told students he imagines making UTD “a household name,” we — the students — were well aware that there already exists much outside familiarity with our campus. That familiarity, based on the comments of my non-UTD friends, associates our campus with a terrible social life, “MIT of the South” memes and first amendment censorship.
Sure, it’s funny, but it gets grating when every visit home I am forced to answer the same series of questions posed by anyone familiar with UTD: whether I am finding friends; whether UTD is sociable; whether the jokes are true.
They’re not wrong to ask, though. We have a relatively high population of commuters and STEM majors, both of which are typically isolating characteristics. While those factors cannot be changed, UTD does have the power to cultivate campus culture. At most campuses, this is typically done through major, well-loved annual traditions. Some colleges host football games against a rival, Rice has the Beer Bike and Texas State has the River Jump. Meanwhile, UTD’s finest tradition is, at best, a cardboard boat race.
As much as I personally love the boat regatta, a single event in a small pool center is not enough to constitute the entirety of campus culture. There exists a need for an investment in our culture. Yet, considering concerns about budget cuts, what’s UTD administration to do? The answer is to bring back the Spirit Rocks.
There exists a need for an investment in our culture.
For those unfamiliar, the Spirit Rocks were three boulders outside the Visitor Center that students would spray paint with messages and art. On Nov. 20, 2023, campus administrators quietly removed them following students painting messages expressing both support and disdain for Israel.
Maria Shaikh, then writing for The Mercury before its staff went on strike, explained in the opinion “Biased Spirit Rocks reporting misrepresents Comets” how media cherry-picking misrepresented the popularity of these messages. The Spirit Rocks, even when political, were cherished by robotics dorks and frat bros alike. Their removal, according to The Mercury’s polling, was opposed by 92% of over 1,500 respondents and all Student Government senators at the time, who passed a unanimous resolution calling for their reinstatement.
But UTD administrators are mainly concerned with maintaining a good image instead of preserving our culture. A headline mentioning “UTD’s Spirit Rocks,” such as the one CBS published just prior to their removal, may attract the wrong kind of attention with politicians and the UT System Board of Regents. Texas voters enjoy a good culture war, so poor coverage could easily attract Austin’s job-slashing ire. I get it. Politics are tense right now. But the Spirit Rocks might actually help prevent that undue attention.
Politics are tense right now. But the Spirit Rocks might actually help prevent that undue attention.
Having a bulletin to express oneself on via the Spirit Rocks, which got painted over with new messages quite frequently, gave students an outlet for their ideas. Without them, students get more decentralized and feel they must take stronger measures like protesting to get their message out. As some professors in EPPS teach, this “pressure valve theory” explains why the government in China allows social media access. Without other choices — without the Spirit Rocks — students gifted UTD even worse headlines with last year’s encampment.
Even in the worst-case scenario — media coverage somehow even worse than the press UTD got last year — I struggle to believe the Spirit Rocks are not worth their cost. In return for an iconic landmark and much-needed cultural attraction, the university may occasionally have to distance itself from its students’ opinions. This is not too different from the status quo: UTD administration regularly distances itself from its press and student government. Deference and tolerance are still tools administrators would have against messages they personally disliked.
Other colleges’ expressive platforms, like Carnegie Mellon’s Paint Fence, have survived even amid tensions for decades. These landmarks are what students make stickers out of or what alumni remember fondly when donating. They are canvasses for artwork. They promote other cultural events, an inertia-like force of culture-building. While CBS’ campus interview showcased a rock covered with support for Palestine, it completely hid the two that were promoting the fall musical “Newsies.”
These landmarks are what students make stickers out of or what alumni remember fondly when donating.
Five years ago, The Princeton Review ranked UTD as one of the top 10 most unhappy college campuses in the country. At that time, UTD said it was in a transitionary phase and that it would expand its culture over time. A culture, though requiring more than just some painted rocks, creates a community of shared experiences valuable enough to endure a difficult conversation with the Board of Regents. The rocks won’t solve everything, but they are an important and easy first step.
I am tired of the patronizing questions about my university. But I am even more tired of administrators constantly censoring the most basic forms of expression for fear of bad optics. When students drew political messages in chalk last year, admin brought out the hoses and enforced bans. I loved seeing the vibrant colors anywhere on campus, even if I didn’t care for the messages themselves. Chalking in groups was a calming group activity. If the response to student expression is to fight it at every word, loneliness and sadness will inevitably arise. UTD has to learn that heavy-handed censorship is also bad optics.
UTD wants to be a household name. If administrators continue to neglect its culture, that name will continue carrying an air of satirical criticism for the “MIT of the South.” Without censorship and with open memories, it could become a name filled with joyous appreciation.