Texas Cowboys


The Texas Cowboys is an honorary student organization at the University of Texas. The organization was founded in 1922 by Arno Nowotny and Bill McGill, with the purpose of serving the University of Texas, as well as the surrounding area, with the motto: "Give the best you have to Texas, and the best will come back to you." It is one of the "oldest and most elite student organizations" at the university, according to the Dallas Morning News. The Texas Cowboys serve as ambassadors of the University of Texas and are present at numerous significant university-sponsored events.
The Texas Cowboys are most well-known for their responsibility keeping and maintaining Smokey the Cannon, which is present at all Texas Longhorns home football games. Smokey is fired off after the Eyes of Texas, at the end of every quarter, and after all Texas touchdowns, field goals, kickoffs, and two-point conversions.

History

In 1922, two students at the University of Texas at Austin decided to form a club. These two men were head cheerleader Arno Nowotny and Longhorn Band president Bill McGill. In 1922, forty men from all aspects of campus life were chosen by McGill and Nowotny to be the first Texas Cowboys. Throughout its nearly 100 years of existence, becoming a Texas Cowboy became a high honor to its members.
The Texas Cowboys quickly adopted a set of rituals, including using a branding iron to brand themselves on their chests with the organization's logo, paddling, and chasing each other around town to kidnap and then abandon the captured member in the woods, distant roadside, or Town Lake.
In 1954, Smokey the Cannon was presented to the University of Texas by the Texas Cowboys. That same year, the Cowboys began their involvement with and support of The Arc of the Capital Area.
On the Monday following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, Smokey fired a 21-gun salute to the fallen President during the climactic moment in a public ceremony in front of the state Capitol building.
Smokey II was created by the Cockrell School of Engineering to replace the original Smokey in 1968. Smokey II served the University well until 1988. The following year, Smokey III, a civil war replica cannon standing six feet tall and weighing 1,200 pounds, was constructed and remains in service to this day.
In 1995, the Texas Cowboys were suspended from the UT campus for five years after one of their New Men, Gabe Higgins, died during a retreat. Independent investigators determined that the Texas Cowboys engaged in eight hazing violations. The organization was already on probation for hazing at the time, and this was the third penalty for hazing in as many years. The death of Gabe Higgins, and the ritualized abuse forced on him by the Texas Cowboys, was documented by the young man's mother in a story of his young life cut short by being a Texas Cowboy.
Through the efforts of the Texas Cowboys Alumni Association, the Texas Cowboys were reestablished in 2000 to represent and serve the University of Texas at Austin with spirit, character and leadership.
On September 30, 2018 Nicholas Cumberland was being driven back from a Texas Cowboys retreat held at a ranch outside of Austin when the truck they were in crashed. Cumberland suffered serious injuries as a result of the crash, and after spending four weeks on life support, died on October 30, 2018. Cumberland's family became concerned that the Texas Cowboys' retreat contributed to their son's death. A university investigation as well as an independent investigation found no connection between hazing and Cumberland's death. The University of Texas hired a lawyer to do an investigation into the incident and exonerated the Cowboys from fault.
The Texas Cowboys' have accepted the terms of the Office of the Dean of students and are committed along with the university to ending hazing.
Additionally, the President of The University of Texas at Austin agrees to hold a meeting in January and August of each year, beginning in 2022, to evaluate whether the Texas Cowboys student organization may be reinstated at a point in time prior to the completion of the sanctioned suspension. The President will consider the Texas Cowboys alumni efforts to help the university eliminate hazing, the proposed future benefits to the university's efforts to eliminate hazing arising from a newly constituted Texas Cowboys student organization, and the merits of proposed reforms to the Texas Cowboys student organization and alumni association.

Distinguished alumni

Political and judicial figures
University figures
Athletes and coaches
Others