UT-Austin officials waited 35 hours before responding to Bo French's post

The University of Texas at Austin delayed its official response to a controversial social media post by Bo French for nearly 35 hours, according to records obtained by The Texas Tribune. French, the Republican nominee for Texas railroad commissioner, posted an image of South Asian students celebrating a Longhorns football victory on September 12, suggesting their presence at the university was a growing problem.

UT-Austin President Jim Davis did not address French by name until late Monday evening, nearly a day after the initial backlash began. Internal communications reveal that university officials debated whether to issue a statement during the weekend. Patrick Wiseman, the vice president for marketing and communications, sent a message to colleagues on Microsoft Teams stating that French was already facing criticism from others and that the university did not need to "stoop to these politics."

Students and alumni urged Davis to speak out more directly during the delay. An Indian American student who had just arrived in Texas for a doctorate in economics emailed the president, asking him to call out French's racism explicitly. Another student described the university's silence as "getting a bit loud." Davis's office received at least 22 emails regarding the incident by Monday afternoon. Rohan Reddy Gupta, a 2020 graduate, wrote that "silence in the face of bigotry is complicity."

UT communications staff also worked to shape media coverage of the student body demographics during the crisis. Katie Boshart, the director of issues and reputation management, contacted reporters from The New York Times and USA TODAY. She urged them to highlight that international students comprised about 4% of undergraduates, a figure lower than the nearly 10% of all students that included graduate programs. Boshart argued the distinction mattered because the controversy centered on undergraduate admissions.

The university's response came late Monday at 6:46 p.m., when Davis reposted a statement from UT System Board Chair Kevin Eltife. Eltife expressed pride in all Longhorn students, while Davis added that the students were exceptional. Neither leader mentioned French by name or labeled his remarks as racist. The UT System Board of Regents adopted an institutional neutrality policy in August 2024, stating that officials should not express positions on issues of the day in their official capacity.

The policy aims to allow students and professors to debate controversial topics without feeling pressure to adopt a university stance. However, Brian Soucek, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, noted that such policies usually include exceptions for defending a university's core mission. He stated that French's remarks met that exception because they directly targeted students. Soucek described the university's response as an example of institutions being cautious in situations where speaking would have positive effects on perceptions of inclusion.

UT-Austin professors took individual steps to reassure students after the incident. Computer science professors Keshav Pingali, Vijay Chidambaram, and Chandrajit Bajaj sent an email offering support to all students regardless of ethnicity. Pingali said the message was prompted by growing hostility toward Indian Americans and his recognition of former students in French's photo. The three professors noted that some students feared attending future football games after seeing the post.