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Texas band won't play at final 2 home games amid dispute over spirit song tied to minstrel shows

With dispute still raging over “The Eyes of Texas,” the University of Texas band won’t play at the school’s final two home football games against West Virginia and Iowa State.

The band didn’t play at the school’s previous home game against Baylor after several members objected to playing the school’s alma mater with ties to minstrel shows and Confederate Civil War General Robert E. Lee.

School president Jay Hartzell maintained in October that the song would remain the alma mater amid growing controversy as the origins of the song surfaced. The song was played over the stadium’s loudspeakers during the Baylor game in the band’s absence.