Under the cover of a holiday weekend, UTD administrators erased the progress pride mural from the second floor of the Student Services Addition.
What was once a visible statement of pride and intersectionality — bearing the words “You Belong Here” — was reduced to a sterile gray slate on July 3. The change of the mural occurred less than a week after the wall became the focal point of a coordinated online campaign.
On June 29, an account called “Libs of TikTok” uploaded a photo of the progress pride mural onto X, formerly Twitter, tagging Governor Greg Abbott in the picture and asking if the wall complied with his Senate Bill 17 — a bill that bans Texas public universities and colleges from having offices, staff and mandatory trainings for diversity, equity and inclusion.
The post received more than 273,000 views and was immediately picked up by conservative accounts, including “Native Texan,” which reposted claims that the wall was “LGBTQ propaganda” on their Instagram page.
The digital commentary developed into a hostile echo chamber where commenters called out the flag as a “mental illness banner.” Posters suggested that the sign should be torched, even invoking violent imagery and death threats toward transgender students.
Texas Representative Brian Harrison joined the online discourse, asserting the state had not gone far enough to dismantle what he described as “transgender indoctrination.”
By withholding any public statement about the mural’s removal, the administration has signaled that shared campus spaces can be altered and scrubbed in secret, without the knowledge or input of the wider community that occupies those spaces.
Furthermore, this action reflects a statewide pattern of overcorrection. In the wake of SB 17, public universities across the state have faced widespread crackdowns involving sudden staff terminations, closure of student centers and preemptive removal of cultural markers.
This reaction highlights a broader “chilling effect” across Texas higher education. Legal experts writing for the Houston Law Review note that while SB 17 legally protects classroom teaching and academic research, the fear of losing millions of dollars in state funding or facing immediate termination drives severe administrative overcompliance.
UTD’s retreat is a textbook example of this institutional anxiety.
When Vice President for Student Affairs Gene Fitch publicly announced the mural on December 9, 2022, he did so with pride. Fitch posted an image of the newly installed progress pride flag, explaining its significance as a symbol inclusive of Black, Brown, transgender and intersex communities.
“I hope you appreciate this symbol of welcome to ALL who engage with Student Affairs and with UTD! We want you to know You Belong Here,” Fitch said.
When The Mercury reached out to Fitch regarding the recent hate — before the mural’s removal on Friday — he declined an interview, writing: “I don’t know that I have anything to add beyond what was said in 2022.” The automated signature at the bottom of his email response contained the official branding logo: “Student Affairs: You Belong Here.”
The administration routinely employs the phrase “You Belong Here” across campus, with its concept of inclusivity used as a slogan for marketing brochures and orientation sessions, and even displayed on digital email signatures of Student Affairs staff.
If “You Belong Here” is to mean anything at UTD, campus culture cannot be managed out of fear of outside opinions. When the university uses vulnerable students as diversity metrics but refuses to stand by them under scrutiny, it reveals that “You Belong Here” is nothing more than a marketing strategy.
Critics often argue that visible symbols like pride murals are performative in an era where legal protections exist. This incident proves the exact opposite.
As politician Chris Bryant said in a 2025 Pride Month address to the U.K. Parliament, “Pride is a movement rooted in resistance and the refusal to be silenced, sidelined or shamed. It is about visibility in the face of erasure.”
By erasing the physical manifestation of true belonging soon after the mural attracted the attention of extreme right-wing groups, UTD has left students questioning whether its devotion to student well-being is conditional.
You cannot retract true belonging the moment it becomes politically inconvenient.
Most students walked past the mural on a daily basis, without giving it a second thought. But to those who need it, those fleeing the suffocating isolation of homophobic families and hostile communities, it was a harbinger of hope. The mural was a sign they always had somewhere to belong.
Now, these students are left searching, looking for both explanations and a safe haven.
In the face of these pressures, Student Government President David Baker emphasized the urgent need for solidarity as the campus navigates these sudden changes.
“It’s times like these that student unification is more important than ever and having a unified voice for all students is, I think so, so incredibly necessary when you have such insane attacks against people … This is just the starting point for what they’re going to try to do to everyone,” he said.
The Mercury wants to be explicit in where it stands: you do belong here. Regardless of your race, your gender, your sexuality or your political opinions, you are a welcome, valued and needed part of our campus community.
For The Mercury’s news coverage of the Progress Pride mural’s removal, click here.