A cake lay smashed on the marble tile in front of the Undergraduate Library, its fluffy white guts a sign of the tumult that occurred in the early afternoon Wednesday.
Last week, a posting on the UT Young Conservatives of Texas Web site and a discussion at a YCT meeting led some members of the UT community to believe that a "Capture an Illegal Immigrant Day" would be held, said Marcus Ceniceros, the president of the University Democrats.
On Jan. 26, the YCT Denton Chapter held a similar event in which members dressed up in orange T-shirts to represent illegal immigrants and ran around campus. Students who "captured" a YCT member and returned him to the YCT booth were rewarded with a candy bar. This event was staged to protest President George W. Bush's immigration policies, but many viewed it as bigoted.
Despite the rumors, when protestors turned out Wednesday, all that could be found was a YCT Texas Independence Day celebration.
"The only reason they didn't do it is because we found out; they lost shock value," said Missy Chavez Quintela, a government sophomore. "And we're a university that's supposed to be progressive."
"YCT does not support bigotry and hatred - we never have, and we never will," said Lauren Conner, chairperson of UT YCT. While she acknowledged the UNT chapter's inflammatory stunt, Conner maintained that the Texas branch of YCT was hosting a booth only to celebrate Texas Independence Day.
"We had discussed the idea because another chapter had done it. After we realized the numerous consequences and how the event could be misconstrued, we as an organization decided not to go through with it," said Michelle Putman, YCT treasurer. "I would like to apologize to those who were given incorrect information about our intentions today."
The information, incorrect or not, encited anger in more than 200 protestors of all races.
"YCT, come get me!" the crowd shouted. They surged toward the booth set up at the southeast corner of UGL. "Racist, sexist, anti-gay! YCT bigots, go away!" chanted the group. "YCT - KKK!"
Members of YCT, who declined to identify themselves, responded to the crowd with offers to cut them slices of cake.
From street slang, "Your mom's an immigrant," to historical, "Give us your tired, your poor..." and multilingual, "Hass ist aklerimus nicht," meaning "Hate is not activism," the protestors made their point known.
Members of Teatro Liberacion, a guerilla theater group, presented an impromptu "Immigrant Auction," in which Lady Liberty was sold into slavery to Superman for $25,000, the message came across loud and clear.
The Latino Leadership Council sent out mass e-mails after discovering, through an LLC member who attends YCT meetings, that the UT chapter had been celebrating the Denton event and were planning a similar one. Groups banded together at a meeting on Monday to decide which action to take. They decided to take a silent, vigil-like approach and to wear black T-shirts to demonstrate their unity.
"We realize that the event did not happen, but the fact that it was even considered was reason enough to come together," Ceniceros said.
Julio Vela, a business junior, was outraged to discover that props such as a "Wetbacks, go home" poster used by members of Teatro Liberacion in their satirical skits had been redistributed with malicious intent to kiosks across the South Mall. "It's wrong, it's immoral, on so many levels," he said after shredding the poster into tiny pieces.
Back in front of the Tower, a tired-looking Felipe Aramburu, a Latin-American studies senior, was peacefully ensconced in an aqua tent decorated with flags from all over the globe.
"Today was about asking questions and hoping to get answers. We're not going to allow these things to happen without our voices being heard - and as strongly as we feel about it, we're going to say it a lot louder and with a lot more people," Aramburu said.
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