Huston–Tillotson University (HT) is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

. Established in 1875, Huston–Tillotson University was the first institution of higher learning in Austin. The university is affiliated with the

United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

, the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximatel ...

, and the

United Negro College Fund UNCF, the United Negro College Fund, also known as the United Fund, is an American philanthropic organization that funds scholarships for black students and general scholarship funds for 37 private historically black colleges and universitie ...

. Huston–Tillotson University awards bachelor's degrees in business, education, the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, science, and technology and a master's degree in educational leadership. The university also offers alternative teacher certification and academic programs for undergraduates interested in pursuing post-graduate degrees in law and medicine.

History

The history of Huston - Tillotson University lies in two schools: Tillotson College and Samuel Huston College. Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute was chartered as a

coeducational Mixed-sex education, also known as mixed-gender education, co-education, or coeducation (abbreviated to co-ed or coed), is a system of education where males and females are educated together. Whereas single-sex education was more common up to ...

school in 1877 by the American Missionary Society of Congregational churches and its namesake, George Jeffrey Tillotson. It opened on January 17, 1881, and had 12 presidents: "William E. Brooks, first president (1881-85), was succeeded by John Hershaw (1886), Henry L. Lubbell (1886-1889), William M. Brown (1889-93), Winfield S. Goss (1894-95), Marshall R. Gaines (1896-1904), Arthur W. Partch (1905-06), Isaac M. Agard (1907-18), and Francis W. Fletcher (1919-23). J. T. Hodges, the first African American to be president (1924-29), was followed by Mary E. Branch (1930-44) and William H. Jones, who became president in 1944." Tillotson College was a

women's college Women's colleges in higher education are undergraduate, bachelor's degree-granting institutions, often liberal arts colleges, whose student populations are composed exclusively or almost exclusively of women. Some women's colleges admit male stud ...

from 1926 to 1935. Samuel Huston College developed out of an 1876 Methodist Episcopal conference. An 1883 agreement with the Freedmen's Aid Society led to the development of the college. The college was named after Samuel Huston of Marengo, Iowa and the college opened in 1900. On October 24, 1952, Tillotson College and Samuel Huston College merged to form Huston–Tillotson College. It then became Huston–Tillotson University on February 28, 2005. Before the merger, future baseball legend

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

accepted an offer from his old friend and pastor Rev. Karl Downs who was president of the college, to be the athletic director at Samuel Huston College, then of the

Southwestern Athletic Conference The Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) is a collegiate athletic conference headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, which is made up of historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the Southern United States. It participates in ...

(SWAC). Before joining the Kansas City Monarchs, Robinson coached the school's basketball team for the 1944–45 season. As a fledgling program, few students tried out for the basketball team, and Robinson even resorted to inserting himself into the lineup for exhibition games. Although his teams were outmatched by opponents, Robinson was respected as a disciplinarian coach, and drew the admiration of, among others,

Langston University Langston University (LU) is a public land-grant historically black university in Langston, Oklahoma. It is the only historically black college in the state. Though located in a rural setting east of Guthrie, Langston also serves an urban mis ...

basketball player Marques Haynes, a future member of the Harlem Globetrotters.

Academics

HTU offers undergraduate and graduate degrees through the following: *College of Arts and Sciences *School of Business and Technology The W.E.B. Dubois Honors Program is a selective program that provides highly qualified undergraduate students special academic and extracurricular opportunities. HTU has an

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

dual degree A double degree program, sometimes called a dual degree, combined degree, conjoint degree, joint degree or double graduation program, involves a student's working for two university degrees in parallel—either at the same institution or at diffe ...

program with

Prairie View A&M University Prairie View A&M University (PVAMU or PV) is a public historically black land-grant university in Prairie View, Texas. Founded in 1876, it is one of Texas's two land-grant universities and the second oldest public institution of higher lear ...

. Under this program, HTU undergraduates complete preliminary required courses on campus and then automatically transfer to Prairie View A&M to complete their engineering degree. Students who successfully complete the program will receive two degrees: a Bachelor of Science in mathematics from HTU and a Bachelor of Science in an engineering discipline from Prairie View A&M.

Campus

Huston–Tillotson University's campus is located at the site of the former Tillotson College on a land feature formerly known to local residents as Bluebonnet Hill. The campus is located in East Austin, between seventh and 11th streets near I-35 and downtown Austin. East Austin has historically been the city's designated place for African-American culture and empowerment largely due to Jim Crow segregation laws. Most of the buildings on campus follow the same nomenclature as the name of the university, with hyphens denoting the importance of the contributions of individuals from both colleges before the merger.

Anthony and Louise Viaer Alumni Hall

The Anthony and Louise Viaer Alumni Hall (formerly known as the Old Administration Building) is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

HT Student Body

In fall 2015, the student body was 57% female and 43% male. 68% identified as Black, 22% identified as Hispanic, 6% identified as Non-Hispanic White, and the remaining 4% identified with other ethnicity or racial groups.

Athletics

The Huston–Tillotson athletic teams are called the Rams. The university is a member of the

National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) established in 1940, is a college athletics association for colleges and universities in North America. Most colleges and universities in the NAIA offer athletic scholarships to its stu ...

(NAIA), primarily competing in the

Red River Athletic Conference The Red River Athletic Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The conference's 13 member institutions are located in Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. History T ...

(RRAC) since the 1998–99 academic year. The Rams previously competed as a founding member of the

(SWAC) from 1920–21 to 1953–54 (when it was majority known as Samuel Huston College), which is currently an

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athleti ...

FCS athletic conference. Huston–Tillotson competes in 12 intercollegiate varsity sports: Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, soccer and track & field; while women's sports include basketball, soccer, softball, track & field and volleyball; and co-ed sports include cheerleading and eSports.

Facilities

The baseball team plays at historic

Downs Field Downs Field is a baseball venue located in Austin, Texas, and the home of the Huston–Tillotson University Rams baseball team. Downs Field was once the home of the Austin Black Senators and also was the home ballpark of Samuel Huston College be ...

at East 12th Street and Alexander Avenue.

Notable people

Faculty

Mary Elizabeth Branch Mary Elizabeth Branch (May 29, 18811944) was an educator who served as president of Tillotson College. She helped it grow and develop. A Black American female, she was an influential leader. Early life and education Branch was born on May 29, 18 ...

(1881-1944), president

Alumni

*Dr. Herman A. Barnett III, First African-American to be admitted to the University of Texas Medical School and first native Texan African-American to graduate from a Texas medical school and to be licensed to practice medicine in Texas. He was a successful doctor. *Maceo T. Bowie, First president of the Kennedy-King City College in Chicago, IL. *

Bobby Bradford Bobby Lee Bradford (born July 19, 1934) is an American jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. In addition to his solo work, Bradford is noted for his work with John Carter, Vinny Golia and Ornette Coleman. In October 2009, Bradf ...

, Jazz trumpeter, cornetist, bandleader, and composer. *Dr June H. Brewer, former professor of English at Huston–Tillotson University for 35 years and former chairperson for the English Department at Hutson-Tillotson. In 1950, Dr. Brewer was among the first five African Americans admitted to the University of Texas after the landmark Sweatt v. Painter case opened the university to African American students. *Bert Collins, former president and CEO of the North Carolina Mutual Insurance Company. (One of the oldest and largest African-American financial institutions). *

Juanita Craft Juanita Craft (born Juanita Jewel Shanks; February 9, 1902 – August 6, 1985) was an American activist and politician. Craft was an activist in the civil rights movement and also served as a member of the Dallas City Council in Texas. Biography ...

, politician and civil rights activist. *Dr. Karl E. Downs - minister in the

, graduated from Sam Huston College (now Huston–Tillotson University), in 1933, was the school's former president and was the personal friend and pastor of Major League Baseball Hall of Famer

. * Maud A. B. Fuller, Baptist leader and educator *

Ron Givens Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

, first African-American Republican member of the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

since 1982; represented Lubbock County from 1985 to 1989;

Realtor A real estate agent or real estate broker is a person who represents sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and agen ...

Lubbock Lubbock ( ) is the 10th-most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of government of Lubbock County. With a population of 260,993 in 2021, the city is also the 85th-most populous in the United States. The city is in the northw ...

*James A. Harris, Scientist part of a team that discovered and identified elements 104 and 105 in 1969-1970 which are now part of the periodic table of chemical elements. * Robert E. Hayes, bishop of the

and served as regional minister of congregations and ministries in Texas and Oklahoma. *Dr. Zan Wesley Holmes- retired pastor of the St. Luke 'Community' United Methodist Church in Dallas, Texas. A city icon and world recognized preacher, Pastor Holmes also has a middle school in Dallas that bears his name for his political and cultural contributions to African-Americans in Dallas. *Joe Leonard Jr., Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, United States Department of Agriculture. Former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). *

Azie Taylor Morton Azie Taylor Morton (February 1, 1936 – December 7, 2003) served as Treasurer of the United States during the Carter administration from September 12, 1977, to January 20, 1981. She remains the only African American to hold that office. Her signa ...

, Treasurer of the United States during the Carter administration. *Anthony "Tony" Norris,

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring o ...

better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or project ...

Ahmed Johnson Anthony Norris (born June 6, 1963) is an American retired professional wrestler and football player. He is best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1995 to 1998, under the ...

. * Volma Overton, Activist in the

Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...

* Robert G. Stanton, Former National Director of the U.S. Park Service during the Clinton administration * Cecil Williams, Former minister of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, as well as community leader, author, lecturer, and spokesperson for the poor. * Joyce Yerwood, physician and social justice advocate. First female African American physician in Fairfield County, Connecticut.

References

External links

* *
Official athletics website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huston-Tillotson University American Missionary Association Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Church of Christ Red River Athletic Conference Former women's universities and colleges in the United States Universities and colleges accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Universities and colleges in Austin, Texas 1881 establishments in Texas Educational institutions established in 1881 Private universities and colleges in Texas Historically black universities and colleges in Texas Historically black universities and colleges in the United States