Influencing the Longhorn Life Staff Newsletter
Published: Feb. 4, 2026
Programs
To welcome students back to campus and build community, the Office of the Dean of Students’ Signature Events team coordinated the annual Spring Welcome. The campus-wide initiative included 14 events, six of which were hosted by Office of the Dean of Students, reaching over 2,000 students. University Unions hosted the Back to School bash for 650 students. The orientation and Texas Parents teams also hosted Spring Orientation for new students and their families.
The Center for Students in Recovery kicked off the Spring 2026 Voices of Recovery Speaker Series with Kate McBee, a UT Austin graduate and master’s student in marriage and family therapy. The series brings speakers from the recovery community to campus to share lived experiences and explore topics related to recovery, resilience and community connection.
Recreational Sports hosted a free Mat Pilates class in the Gregory Gym Arena to kick off the year and introduce students to the TeXercise program. There will be a free Sculpt class in the Arena on Feb. 11. Nearly 300 participants attended the pilates class; check out the photos here.
University Unions’ Austin Espinoza and Benjamin Bays (Moody College of Communication) helped students gain real-world career skills at the 2nd Annual Academic Esports World Tournament in Sydney, Australia. UT 10-person team participated in tournaments for VALORANT, League of Legends and Rocket League. The students from different majors also competed against people from across the globe in a game jam, academic debate and business pitch.
Campus Events+Entertainment hosted UT Comic Con, featuring guest speakers Lex Lang and Ray Chase of Jujutsu Kaisen. Students were dialed in to hear about their experiences bringing anime characters to life. With a professor panel, cosplay contest, trivia, comic booth and a comic drawing class, 550 attended. See some of the highlights.
Spaces
Colleagues in the health and well-being portfolio attended the CMHC @ WCP Open House to check out the new space in the William C. Powers, Jr. Student Activity Center. They learned more about Counseling and Mental Health Center services offered there and connected with clinicians and staff.
The UT Outpost opened in its new space on the ground floor of the Student Services Building. The new space makes this on-campus food pantry and career closet more accessible to students. President Jim Davis and representatives from H-E-B and the Central Texas Food Bank spoke at the recent ribbon cutting ceremony. Here's an inside look into the new space, and you can also check out some additional photos here.
Recreational Sports partnered with Nike to open a brand-new space inside Gregory Gym. The new Nike Recovery Studio is now open for drop-in use and features compression therapy by Hyperice as well as Nike strength equipment for individualized training sessions. View photos of the space.
Resources
Recreational Sports is hosting an Open House for UT faculty and staff Feb. 21-March 1. During this Open House, faculty and staff members can enjoy access to all seven RecSports facilities at no cost with their UT ID card.
The Counseling and Mental Health Center’s Doctoral Internship in Health Service Psychology was re-accredited by the American Psychological Association for the next 10 years. Continuously accredited since 1966, the program offers a strong training model that includes weekly supervision, clinical team meetings, outreach opportunities and extensive direct client work.
The Office of the Dean of Students hosted two preparedness events prior to January’s winter storm: the Longhorns are Prepared Fair on Jan. 22 and Longhorns are Prepared Pop Up on Jan. 23. Students learned about emergency preparedness, interacted with local resources and grabbed the essentials for their own emergency kit. More than 400 emergency kits were distributed to ensure students and those in their home would be safe for any upcoming weather.
University Unions will hold an open house about Campus Events+Entertainment’s Student Events Funding Committee (SEFC). The event on Feb. 4 in the Cactus Café will provide information about this resource for registered student organizations and answer questions about the application process.
Primary Care at University Health Services launched a new flu and COVID-19 testing clinic for students. These quick, 10-minute nurse appointments provide testing only.