![](https://utincontext.la.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/East-Mall-wide-views-documenting-before-the-modifications-2022-136092.jpg)
We Are Texas East Mall Project
The first cohort of Black undergraduates, who refer to themselves as the Precursors,
started classes in 1956.
![](https://utincontext.la.utexas.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/RE-headshot-1024x1024.jpg)
Rodney Ellis
Rodney Ellis entered UT in 1975.
Interview
Interviewed on October 21, 2022 in Houston, Texas.