Vol. 72, Issue 3
Fe b r u a r y 1 0 - Fe b r u a r y 1 7 , 2 0 2 6
Est. 1981
THE PAISANO
Independent Student Newspaper for the University of Texas at San Antonio Community
@ThePaisano
@paisanomedia
@paisanosports
@paisanosports
/paisano-online.com
aggression intensifies during walkout on campus Aidan Moreno/The Paisano
By Hallie Lott Web Editor
R
ight to Rebel SATX, a youth organization in San Antonio, organized a student walkout at the Sombrilla on Main Campus to protest against the UT San Antonio Police Department’s cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and to bring attention to ICE’s involvement in citizen deaths across the country. ICE agents have shot and killed three people this year: Alex Pretti, Renee Good and Keith Porter Jr. Furthermore, UTSAPD created a perimeter for ICE agents in a raid on Main Campus in May 2025, which resulted in the detainment of construction workers who were working on a project prior to their arrest. San Antonio Police Department Chief of Police William McManus has stated that SAPD is required to cooperate with ICE when requested to assist on cases. Students gathered at the Sombrilla at 11 a.m. on Feb. 3. Demonstrators held signs that read messages and insults in opposition to President Donald Trump and ICE. Protest leaders chanted, “Campus PD works with ICE to keep the people down,” and “No justice, no peace! Get ICE off our streets!” “We are showing [UT San Antonio] what we can do when we agitate, when we get organized, what we can do when we go beyond what the school can and cannot tell us to do because we understand that UTSAPD and the admin that represents them collaborate with ICE,” a protest organizer, who requested to remain anonymous, stated in an interview with The Paisano. “UT San Antonio is a Hispanic-serving institution, and this [agency] has a direct impact on Hispanics, especially across Texas and across the nation,” first year mechanical engineering major Simon Alvarez said during the protest. He called on the university to act, saying, “if UT San Antonio wants to be a frontier for the Hispanic
Protest leaders burn American flag during campus demonstration.
community, they should care about these ICE raids, and have a negative stance against them.” The Paisano approached several UT San Antonio officials observing the demonstration; they declined to comment on record. The walkout’s organizers led demonstrators around Main Campus, starting at the Sombrilla and heading to the John Peace Library, Student Union, McKinney Humanities and UTSAPD’s headquarters. In front of the headquarters, protesters yelled, “Fuck ICE.” Organizers emphasized to the crowd that “[students] must fight, we must get organized.” Protest leaders then burned the American flag and stomped on the torn-up pieces. “You are taking a stance for your own freedom and your own rights,” freshman kinesiology major Fiona Padalino stated. “Everyone has a right to peacefully protest, especially in things they believe in.” Leaders guided the crowd back to the Sombrilla where they encountered Beto O’Rourke and Powered By People volunteers. The organization, which O’Rourke founded and leads, sought to register UT San Antonio students to vote. After clashing with protest leaders over whether he could speak, O’Rourke addressed the crowd of protesters. “I am with you, in being against ICE,” O’Rourke said. “I am with you, in making sure that there is no longer ICE in this country because they cannot be trusted to execute the law, to honor the constitution, and not to participate in these abuses, this torture, this kidnapping and these killings. “We must hold those in power accountable for their position of public trust. We must ensure that we get this country moving on the right track.” A student who requested to remain anonymous reflected on attending the demonstration after it concluded. “Your voice matters, your vote matters, no matter what it is,” the student said. “The fact that you are using your first amendment and using it the right way, I think that is what we should all take away from this protest.”
Beto O’Rourke delivers speech while surrounded by UT San Antonio students during walkout.
Prof. doubts downtown progress of campus master plan By Marisela Cruz News Editor UT San Antonio’s President Taylor Eighmy launched UTSA’s Campus Master Plan initiative in June 2018. The plan, dedicated to development and expansion efforts over the next decade, was approved in 2019. Professor Emeritus of Public Administration Heywood Sanders sat down with The Paisano to analyze the development of the project seven years after its approval. “I think the simplest description of our current situation is that we’re not on track that the master plan laid out in 2019, and that it’s not quite clear if we will ever get to that kind of dimensions that were talked about then, particularly in a physical form,” Sanders stated. Detailed within the master plan is an expanded Main Campus area size of 3.3 million square feet. Developments for research and academic places, pedestrian-oriented environment, housing and revenue expansion opportunities are named as principal goals of the project. UT San Antonio aims to expand the four campuses’ square footage to accommodate 45,000 students for its future growth. Today, UT San Antonio has over 38,000 students enrolled. Plans to expand the Downtown Campus are detailed in the master plan, with UT San Antonio planning to purchase $7.3 million worth of city land and $5.7 million of county land in 2018. Sanders, who joined UT San Antonio in 2001, is most familiar with the Downtown Campus plan as it is of the most immediate importance to him. “I seriously wonder if any of those things will actually be realized,” Sanders detailed. “In 2018, Dr. Eighmy imagined UTSA Downtown Campus in 10 years, 15,000 plus students, 1,000 plus faculty, 1,000 plus staff, four plus colleges, two new schools, two new institutes,
distributed residential experience, comprehensive student experience, development catalyst for the Near West Side and a tractor for corporations.” “Now, I haven’t seen the numbers on enrollment on the downtown campus of late, but I don’t think it’s anywhere near 15,000 students.” Sanders explained that student activity at the Downtown Campus has had a “real reduction.” The idea of establishing a pedestrian bridge connecting the Downtown Campus to the West Side of San Antonio was covered by the San Antonio Express-News. Sanders discussed this proposed connection during his interview with The Paisano. “There was part of the plan some discussion about efforts to better connect and link the campus developments along San Pedro Creek east of the highway to the original Downtown Campus footprint to the west,” Sanders
Sarah Quintanilla/ The Paisano
explained. “That really has not occurred in much of any way. They’re remarkably isolated.” Reflecting on the status of the current state of the Downtown Campus, Sanders explained how a lot of attention is needed for the academic spaces. “I can go into classrooms and conference rooms there that have exactly the same chairs and tables that were there when those buildings opened,” Sanders detailed. “If we’re actually going to have a plan that’s meaningful, we need to step up a planning process that at the very least goes back and looks at what we’ve done and [what] we haven’t and what we might do now and provide some functional vision for the future.” UT San Antonio released a New District Planning Report in October 2025, which featured a proposal to complete the development of San Pedro II during 2026.