While The University of Texas has seen at least half a dozen public incidents of racism committed by students over the past few years, the response from university administrators has continually been that no punitive action can be taken because of freedom of speech, a response growing less and less common as universities nationwide begin to crack down more on campus hate.

“We continually strive to balance free speech and our strong commitment to diversity and respect,” UT Spokesperson Gary Susswein said in an email.

Incidents seen on and around the 40 Acres over the past few years, described in detail below, include offensive fiestas, a “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” game, an “Affirmative Action Bake Sale” and a “Marshals Party,” at which guests reportedly wore hard hats with “Jefe” and “Pablo Sanchez” written on them.

- Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) fraternity threw a February party where guests reportedly wore hard hats with “Jefe” and “Pablo Sanchez” on them, making national headlines.

- The Young Conservatives of Texas planned a 2013 “Catch an Illegal Immigrant” game, at which students would have to chase around other students wearing “illegal immigrant” signs.

- The Young Conservatives of Texas hosted a 2013 “Affirmative Action Bake Sale,” where students were charged different prices for baked goods based on their race.

- Alpha Tau Omega fraternity planned a “fiestau” party in 2012 that would have fake U.S. and Mexico sides with obstacles in between that guests would have to cross to get between the sides of the party.

- Delta Delta Delta and Zeta Tau Alpha sororities co-hosted a fiesta party in 2012 at which guests were photographed wearing t-shirts that read “ILLEGAL” and “BORDER PATROL.”

UT President Bill Powers did condemn the Catch an Illegal Immigrant plans and according to university spokesperson Sara LeStrange, educational efforts were offered to offending organizations with many of the incidents, but that was the extent of UT's response.

“The proposed Young Conservatives of Texas event is completely out of line with the values we espouse at The University of Texas at Austin. Our students, faculty and the entire university work hard both to promote diversity and engage in a respectful exchange of ideas. The Wednesday event does not reflect that approach or commitment,” Powers said in a statement after news broke of the planned event.

Rocio Villalobos, program coordinator for the Multicultural Engagement Center at UT, said incidents at UT seem to repeat themselves because more isn’t done by the university to prevent them. She has been on the UT campus for the last roughly 10 years, beginning at the university as an undergraduate.

“That’s been the persistent issue, that the same theme party happens, the same response is given, and so there’s a cycle because there’s no concrete way of addressing it when something like this happens on campus or off campus,” Villalobos said.

More action from the university is needed or campus culture is likely to hit a tipping point, said Anayeli Marcos-Flores, an officer in University Leadership Initiative. The UT student organization advocates for the rights of immigrant students and held a public protest against the Fiji party.

“We’re going to reach a point where enough is enough,” Marcos-Flores said. “And so, in order to avoid future consequences or problems, the issue should be addressed at the moment, and not putting it on, ‘Oh, it’s freedom of speech. We can’t do anything about it.’”

Marcos-Flores said the response of University of Oklahoma President David Boren earlier this year, after members of the university’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter were caught on video chanting about not letting back people into their fraternity, showed that more can be done. Boren ordered the dismissal of the school’s SAE chapter from campus and the expulsion of several members.

“I think Powers didn’t use his full potential to stand up to the core values of the university,” Marcos-Flores said, referring to the Fiji party in February. “Students need to be protected and we need to feel safe on campus, and I think that Oklahoma really showed that to us.”

Clifton Conrad, a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of educational leadership and policy analysis, said the trend of universities taking these incidents more seriously is emerging and serious action from higher education leaders is going to be necessary for change to occur.

“I think that we have a deficit of courage sometimes among our leaders that are reluctant to speak out because, for whatever they say, they are going to be criticized, whether it’s the mayor of Baltimore or the president of The University of Oklahoma,” Conrad said. “So I think sometimes it’s going to take a little courage from leaders in particular for these issues to be dealt with.”

A more serious approach at universities across the nation can be seen more and more in the press. Recent actions against campus hate include Arizona State University expelling its Tau Kappa Epsilon chapter from campus in 2014 after it held a “MLK Black Party” and Duke University suspending its Kappa Sigma chapter in 2013 for an international-themed party that mocked Asians.

The UT Campus Climate Response team, which takes anonymous reports of bias at UT, said in a statement that it received 670 reports on 69 distinct incidents of bias for the 2013-2014 academic year, with most reports coming from the two Young Conservatives of Texas incidents. The organization doesn’t generally disclose details on individual incidents.

Undeclared freshman Jennell Benson, an officer for UT’s Black Students Association, said she sees a failure to take more action on UT’s part as condoning the behavior.

“I think UT’s response, saying, “Oh, that’s freedom of speech,” is kind of like saying it’s OK to take part in and host these events that are racist,” Benson said.