An association for alumni and supporters of The Daily Texan, student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin

Texan Hall of Fame

Registration now open for April 8 Daily Texan alum dinner

Registration is now open for the annual Friends of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame dinner at The Texas Union building on the UT campus. Twice postponed due to the pandemic, the event on April 8 in the Shirley Bird Perry ballroom of The Union building will begin with a social hour at 6 p.m., and continue at 7 p.m. with the dinner. Register here: https://friendsdailytexan.wildapricot.org/event-4702996 “There’s a lot of pent-up interest in the dinner, since we had to cancel the 2020 and 2021 dinners,” said a statement from the board of Friends of The Daily Texan. “It will be […]

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10 selected for The Daily Texan Hall of Fame

By Griff Singer Chairperson, Friends of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame Selection Committee If there ever was a concern about the superb talent pool of onetime Daily Texan staffers evaporating, fear no more. Look at the inductees for the 2021 Friends of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame and the Griff Singer Friend of The Daily Texan Award. Any concerns will vanish. Once again, your FOTDT Board has endorsed the nominations of a stellar and diverse group of journalists and photographers — some young, some with gray or little hair. All have strong ties to The Texan. All have […]

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Hold the date – Oct. 1 – for annual Friends of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame dinner

Please mark Friday, Oct. 1 for the Friends of The Daily Texan annual Hall of Fame dinner on the University of Texas campus. The scheduled dinner/reunion will include honoring the 2021 Daily Texan Hall of Fame winners, and announcement of scholarships grants for eight Daily Texan staff members. The dinner is planned for the Shirley Bird Perry Ballroom, in The Texas Union Building. Tentative start time is 6 p.m. All health protocols in place by The Union and the University of Texas will be followed, and additional info will be provided as the event draws closer. At this time The […]

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Friends fund drive raises $31,000-plus to support Daily Texan needs

The ongoing Friends of The Daily Texan fund-drive has reached $31,460, all to be used for Texan scholarships, project needs and other items to support the student newspaper at The University of Texas at Austin. The recent fund drive focused on raising donations to replace revenue lost by cancellation of the Friends’ group 2020 annual dinner due to the pandemic. You may view the list of recent donors here: https://friendsofthedailytexan.com/donors-to-the-texan/ The fund drive began last September and brought in $8,700 between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31, 2020 from 40 donors. Continuation of the fund drive from Jan. 1 resulted in […]

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Texan Editorial Adviser Bob Hilburn and his cousin Larry McMurtry

Editor’s Note: Those who worked at The Daily Texan on the University of Texas campus in the 1960s, 70s and 80s remember  “Mr. Hilburn.“ He was the editorial adviser to the student paper, and a renowned journalist himself before returning to Austin to work with the students. Bob Hilburn was also the cousin of  author Larry McMurtry. Bob never mentioned that to Texan staffers. But when Hilburn was inducted into the Friends of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame in 2018 the photo with this article came from his wife Jeanette, and his daughter Sidney Hilburn, who provided this info: […]

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Tumulty on Nancy Reagan: More than a love story; a partnership that made Reagan President

Editor’s note: Below is information about Daily Texan and UT graduate Karen Tumulty’s critically-acclaimed biography of Nancy Reagan. In addition, here is a link to an except in The Washington Post about Mrs. Reagan’s critical role in the White House, and Tumulty’s new book. ••••••• With this definitive biography of the fiercely vigilant and politically astute First Lady, Washington Post political columnist Karen Tumulty shows how Nancy Reagan shaped one of the most consequential presidencies of the 20th century, and made herself a place in history. Tumulty spent four years interviewing the people who knew this couple best and draws […]

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Honoring current and former Texan staffers: Celebrate (and Please Donate)

With COVID-19 forced cancellation of Friends of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame dinner and fund-raiser last fall, the Friends group has created a “virtual” celebration to honor those who would normally be recognized in person. Ten Daily Texan Hall of Fame honorees are being honored and 7 Texan staffers have received scholarship awards. All are recognized in a series of videos on the Friends of The Daily Texan YouTube  channel. A total of 15 Texan reporters and videographers, hired by the Friends group, did the interviews and video work. The videos are short and concise – 5 minutes or […]

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Travel virtually across the globe with two Pulitzer Prize winning former Daily Texan photographers

For two decades, two Associated Press Photographers who met at The Daily Texan traveled war zones and pockets of peace in Central America, South Asia, Africa and the Mideast, taking photos that would win each a Pulitzer Prize in Photography. Those two photographers – John McConnico and Jean-Marc Bouju –  were recently named members of The Daily Texan Hall of Fame, sponsored by Friends of The Daily Texan, Inc. They are other Daily Texan 2020-2021 Hall of Fame honorees will be featured in a series of videos to be released in coming weeks. Because of health concerns, the Friends group […]

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Texan 2020 Hall of Fame Honorees: covering the globe from war zones to Wall Street, hospital operating rooms to classrooms…and beyond

A dedicated and talented group of honorees with an almost unbelievable range of experiences – locally to globally – comprise the 2020 Daily Texan Hall of Fame class. Consider these success stories of the honorees: √ Two globe-trotting, Pulitzer Prize-winning former AP photographers. √ A medical reporter and podcast host with 80 million downloads for a recent series. √ A former Texan staffer who has been the face – and voice – of the Longhorn athletics for more than 50 years. √ A Washington Post business and finance reporter focusing on Wall Street and government programs launched to save small […]

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Annual Friends Hall of Fame, Daily Texan Scholarship Awards Dinner To Go Virtual for 2020

The Friends of The Daily Texan annual gathering will be a virtual event this year, including awarding of seven scholarship grants for Texan staffers and honoring of new Daily Texan Hall of Fame members. The event was originally scheduled for an in-person gathering and dinner on Oct. 2, at The Union on the UT campus. But due to safety and health concerns, the in-person event will be replaced by a series of virtual events to be held this fall. This year seven Texan staff members will receive scholarship grants, one more than last year. The scholarship application process will begin […]

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