UT community grapples with social media comments on student section racial makeup

Despite being a lifelong Austin resident and Longhorns fan, mechanical engineering senior Zaina Jafri had never been as close to the field as she was on Saturday. 

Jafri said watching the Longhorn’s narrow victory against Ohio State was the best experience she and her friends had at UT. Jafri was even excited to be posted on social media enjoying the game.

Then the comments rolled in. Over the following 48 hours, comments criticizing the number of non-white students in the pictures and videos amassed thousands of likes. One commentator was Bo French, a former Tarrant County Republican chair and a candidate for statewide office. 

“I heard UT graduation this year looked like this,” French wrote in a Sunday morning tweet referencing a picture of students at the game. “I didn’t believe it. The problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined.” 

French, the Republican nominee for Railroad Commissioner, is running to become a part of the body that governs Texas’s oil and gas resources. Texas has not elected a Democrat to any statewide office in over 30 years. French would write a second post later that morning. 

“Like body-cams exposed criminals, social media is exposing how many Americans have been displaced by foreigners,” French also wrote on social media. “It’s everywhere and far worse than any of us could imagine.” 

Jafri, a South Asian student, said the comments, especially from a candidate for office, were hurtful.  

“Honestly, it’s just really disheartening to see and hear being a first-generation in America,” Jafri said. “There’s this underlying fear or this underlying sense of not belonging, and to see it so explicitly written out, it doesn’t feel good.”

Dhairya Gupta, an Indian-American computer science senior, said he and his friends were thrilled to see themselves on the Texas Longhorns Instagram page after UT’s win. 

“When we woke up in the morning, that’s when I had a few texts from a few friends, and they’re like, ‘check Twitter,’” Gupta said. “The right word that I’ve been using to describe it has been jarring.”

French, who did not respond to requests for comment over social media and does not list a media contact on his campaign profile, doubled down on his comment in a podcast appearance on Monday, after federal and statewide Republicans criticized his post.  

“Too many of our institutions are prioritizing people who are not Americans,” French said on the podcast. “I don’t think it’s a problem to point that out.”

According to University data for 2025, international students make up 4.3% of UT’s undergraduate student body, and 9.5% of total enrollment. Additionally, Texas law requires 90% of incoming freshmen to be Texas residents. 

Sahanaa Pareenja, an Indian-American sustainability studies and geography senior who also attended the game, said that, as a lifelong Texan, seeing discussions online about a perceived influx of international students was frustrating.

“It’s not like there’s just these mass hoards of international students coming in,” Pareenja said. “These are Americans just like anybody else, and just because of their skin color, they’re being labeled as ‘other.’”

Kevin Eltife, chairman of the UT System Board of Regents, said he was “proud to celebrate” all Longhorns in a UT System social media statement on Monday but did not explicitly respond to French’s post.

“When I stood on the sidelines at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium Saturday night and looked up at the seats filled with incredible fans, I saw Longhorns,” the post stated. “It’s the same remarkable view I have at graduation ceremonies and anytime I’m on campus.”

UT President Jim Davis later reposted the UT System’s post and agreed. 

“Our students are exceptional,” Davis wrote. “All of them are Longhorns.”

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