4/24/08 Show

Backtracking a little. Last week we had Meggie Sudderth come on the show. Meggie is the student liaison for the deanofstudents.utexas.edu/barbarajordan/committee.php">Barbara Jordan Statue Project. She's in the studentorgs.utexas.edu/ojackets/">Orange Jackets (female honors service organization at UT, they've been around forever) which initiated the whole Barbara Jordan statue thing. The Orange Jackets have a reputation for taking on large projects that positively impact the University and community at large. In case you didn't know, UT-Austin does not have any female statues, much less an african american female statue. There are several statues dedicated to confederate losers, er, leaders however.

Barbara Jordan was a remarkable woman, Texan, American and faculty member here at UT. She was the first black woman elected to congress from the south. She gave a convincing televised speech advocating the impeachment of Nixon to the House Judiciary committee. She did many things first, I could repeat them here or you can just read them at wikipedia. Interesting tidbit: she was a lesbian.

Meggie shared her experience with the project and how it has been incredibly positive even when they had to scratch the initial designs because the public did not feel it captured the late Ms. Jordan's likeness accurately. The new design is amazing, it will be in a beautiful notable spot on campus and is set to be unveiled next spring.