A photo capturing University of Texas at Austin students celebrating the Longhorns’ rallying win over Ohio State last weekend exploded across X, but not for the right reasons. Bo French, a Republican hopeful for Texas railroad commissioner, chose to disregard the celebratory mood and instead weighed in on the racial composition of UT’s cheering crowd.

Rumor has it UT’s class of graduates this year looked like this. I was skeptical at first. The issue today seems far more serious than anyone anticipated. pic.twitter.com/Ys1bql0y4U

— Bo French (@bofrench) September 13, 2026

“The problem” to which French referred appears to be an overabundance of non-white students in Texas, with particular emphasis on students of Indian descent. To dispel any ambiguity, French added this remark:

“I celebrated the team’s victory,” he wrote. “It was an exciting game. Yet I mourn for Texas families who can’t gain entry to UT because foreigners are given priority over locals. Shame on you for ignoring that reality.”

French’s remarks drew swift rebuke from numerous conservatives. Radio host Eric Erikson leveraged the incident to probe the white nationalist influence within the Republican Party. Karl Rove said he would cast a vote for a Democrat, French’s opponent, for the second time in his life. Ben Shapiro argued that if self-identified Republicans are troubled by Indian overrepresentation, they should prepare for a harsher reality when they discover that Vice President JD Vance—widely seen as a potential successor to President Donald Trump and someone perceived as sympathetic to some of their aims—has an Indian wife and children who are half-Indian.

Other conservatives highlighted the inconsistency of denouncing immigrants for not assimilating quickly while simultaneously ranting about a photo that shows non-white students proudly taking part in one of America’s most iconic pastimes: college football, and Texas football at that. Moreover, the individuals shown are almost certainly Texans: by Texas law, UT‑Austin must maintain a student body largely composed of residents from the state. Only about 10 percent come from outside Texas, with even fewer from abroad. These students may have Indian heritage, but they are still Americans.

Regrettably, that nuance isn’t enough for some factions of the right. The truth is that French’s remarks also found traction among conservatives tied to organizations that Erikson highlighted in his insightful piece—the Claremont Institute, American Moment, and others—and among right-wing commentators like Benny Johnson, Auron MacIntyre, Joel Webbon, and more. In effect, some of the loudest conservative voices on social media appear to share French’s view that a photo of non-white UT‑Austin students signals a deeper decay or moral betrayal of white America, a decay the Republican Party and the broader conservative movement have failed to prevent. Elite institutions, according to these voices, are overrun by people who do not resemble white Europeans and who eschew Christian norms, and that situation is deemed unacceptable.

Ironically, the very achievement of forcing universities to abandon race-blind admissions was a landmark victory for the conservative and libertarian legal movements. Those on the identitarian right who now lament that decision—arguing that authorities cannot simply privilege one race over another—are effectively betraying their own ideological heritage: the right won the battle over affirmative action, and now they object to its consequences.

Race Conscious

There is an extra layer of irony here in that UT Austin was a pivotal battleground on the path to eliminating race-based admissions. In 2008, Abigail Fisher was denied entry to the university and challenged its race-conscious admissions practices. At that time, UT automatically admitted the top performers from every Texas high school; other candidates could gain admission based on a variety of factors, including grades, leadership, and race—where applicants from minority groups received extra points toward admission.

The case reached the Supreme Court in 2013 and again in 2016. Fisher lost both times, as the Court maintained that universities may consider race as one of several factors in admissions. This aligned with a longstanding precedent; the majority decision in Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) held that a racially diverse campus benefits the educational experience of all students, and that race could be a permissible consideration if narrowly tailored.

Most conservatives and libertarians disagreed with those rulings, viewing race-conscious admissions as a form of discrimination against white and Asian applicants whose chances fall when administrators prioritize minority groups. By 2023, the makeup of the Supreme Court had shifted enough for a majority to rule against race-based admissions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University, effectively rendering such practices illegal. Higher education institutions can no longer select students to curate a particular racial composition.

This represented a major win, given the tendency of elite admissions offices to rely on crude racial stereotypes to deny admission to highly qualified applicants—typically among Asian students—in favor of those with comparatively lower test results. The proponents of race-based preferences were defeated, while the advocates of individual merit prevailed.

Even prior to the 2023 ruling, Texas Republicans were actively pursuing measures to halt race-conscious admissions in the state’s schools. Senate candidate Ken Paxton, Senator Ted Cruz, and outgoing Senator John Cornyn all urged the Court to end race-based admissions. Governor Greg Abbott imposed a ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion in education. Republican officials acted quickly and decisively to erase racial considerations from the admissions process.

So, when a university can no longer rely on crude racial essentialism to determine its student body, what happens? The admissions pool becomes dominated by the most academically accomplished individuals. For French and his fellow right-wing identitarians, this does not automatically translate into a larger share of white students. Instead, high-performing immigrant groups, especially Asians and Indians, may claim a larger share of slots thanks to strong grades and test scores. When French and his associates protest, they are voicing arguments that mirror the critiques offered by progressive educators who once sought to use skin color as a determinant of admission.

It is wrong to base admissions on race, and codifying that principle into law was a milestone achievement for the conservative and libertarian legal movements. It is reassuring that when we look at a photo of students celebrating their football triumph over Ohio State (kudos to them—this Michigan native is cheering), we can reasonably conclude they earned their places on their own merits: they are neither punished nor over-rewarded for an immutable trait.

If you object to that, and you also object to the race-based sorting that progressives once pursued, well then your political project is essentially white nationalism—and you shouldn’t be surprised when others on the right distanciate themselves from you.

For a deeper exploration of these themes, consider ordering this newly released book from Reason contributor Stephanie Slade: Fusionism, Liberty, Virtue, and the Future of the American Right.

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Worth Watching

I just wrapped an 80,000-minute rewatch of the TV series Lost, and I still think it largely holds up, including the finale. If you haven’t revisited it lately, consider giving it another go. Contrary to the belief that the series leaves most questions unanswered, I would struggle to point to any aspect of Lost that isn’t adequately explained by the end. The ability to binge episodes helps offset the sense of endless cliffhangers. And in an era when many programs are unrelentingly dark, I appreciated being able to actually discern what was happening on screen.