Orange Jackets

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Orange Jackets is the one of the oldest student organizations at The University of Texas at Austin, founded in 1923 as a women's honorary organization, named for their distinctive orange vests. The official hosts of the University, its three tenets are scholarship, leadership, and service.

Orange Jackets is known for their volunteer efforts on campus and in the community with the Settlement Home of Austin, ARC of the Capital Area, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Ronald McDonald House Charities. At the University they started Parent's Weekend in 1924, originally Dad's and Mother's Day. In 1926 they started the Women's Self Government Association, a now defunct governance body to address women's issues as women started attending college.

The organization started the initiative to bring the first female statue — one of Barbara Jordan — to campus. William C. Powers and the Barbara Jordan statue project committee rejected the design and a new call for artists was submitted, scheduled to choose a new design in the Spring.[1] [2][3]

The organization also spearheaded efforts to bring callboxes to off-campus housing areas. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

They also raised money for Voices Against Violence, a UT program that offers sexual assault counseling and education, after federal funding was cut. They were the first student organization to contributed towards this endowment. [12] [13]