UT Wants A Redo, And Your Help

Last year, in Gregory Gym on the UT campus, five miniature statues of former congresswoman Barbara Jordan were placed in the lobby for students and faculty to vote on. After a year-long process, Santa Fe artist Kim Crowley's representation of Jordan, thumbing around her briefcase while seated on a bronze bench, was chosen.

Due to its rather lackluster presence, that statue has now been repealed by the UT Barbara Jordan Statue Committe. Today, they're calling for help from all of Austin--not just students--in order to gain input before the next selection process, as opposed to afterwards. To date, 75 artists have applied and the committee hopes to narrow that number down to five by January.

In 2003, tuition was raised $2 per student to pay for the project; that initiative has well-reached its goal of $400,000. Surrounded by the Battle Oaks, the statue--which happens to be the first female statue on the entire 40 acres and only the second African American, behind Martin Luther King Jr.--will be placed next to the Harry Ransom Center on 24th and Whitis.

Barbara Jordan, born in Houston in 1936, was elected Representative for the 18th District of the U.S. House in 1973, becoming the first African American woman from a Southern state to serve in Congress. She gained national fame only a year after her election as a member of the House Judiciary Committee, when she delivered a rousing speech during the Watergate hearings. In 1976, she was the first woman nominated by the Democratic party to deliver their keynote address during that year's national convention. She retired to Austin in 1979, living out the rest of her days in our fair town until her death in 1996. She's now buried at the East Austin State Cemetary.

The committee will hold a public forum tonight at 6:30 at The George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center on 1165 Angelina Street.

Top photo courtesy of utexas.edu. Bottom photo courtesy of DOS.

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By patrickdentler in News on November 28, 2006 4:18 PM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

apv

Anyone else see the editorial in the Texan today about University pay raises? I can't believe that those useless [fools] on the SG get 4500 bucks a year.

pd

I stand corrected, it is near Hogg, not the Ransom.

chris

"Surrounded by the Battle Oaks, ..., --will be placed next to the Harry Ransom Center on 24th and Whitis."

the ransom center is on 21st across from dobie...maybe you mean hogg auditorium?

Edward

Nike had the most fitting tribute to her with their line of Air Jordan shoes.

Sudo

I think the seated position is appropriate and not subservient, giving the decades Ms. Jordan spent in a wheelchair. But a seated figure can still convey her powerful and dynamic presence. The Barbara Jordan statue at the airport gets it right.

eliz. s.

I'm with Odam. I think Ms. Jordan is very deserving of a better statue than one relegating her to the side of a bench in a weird subservient position.

Benji

Plus she built that airport.

odam

Anyone who ever saw Barbara Jordan speak or had the pleasure of her company knows she was one of the most dynamic and powerful presences in our state's history. Relegating her to a bench seems lame, despite the merits of the statue.

ldr

So what becomes of the statue of her on the bench now? Too bad this one is rejected, apart form the plain silliness of the whole thing and the expense, I think the statue is pretty cool. Subtle is good sometimes.

Austingal

Only statue of a woman on campus -- UT should be ashamed. In light of this new information - guess what that 8 million dollar scoreboard represents now....

Stew

$125,000 = bureaucracy

pd

$400,000 have been allocated for the Jordan statue, but the actual cost is $275,000. I have no idea where the other $125,000 is going?

Stew

I don't know the market for statues these days but $400,000 sounds pretty steep.

JUBCHA

I'M GOING TO SUBMIT MY VERSION OF THE STATUE. IT WILL BE BILL COSBY MEETS HAMMER AND WILL BE MADE OF CLAY.

Justin

Let's raise their taxes tuition, hold a popular vote, then decide that vote doesn't count. It's the American way.

I guess the UT Barbara Jordan Statue Committee realized that there would be no need for the UT Barbara Jordan Statue Committee once the statue is approved.