with Samuel Huston College. According to university archives found inside of a time capsule buried in 1989, donation records were found in the amount of one cent, five cents and a dollar. To go from relying on Freedmen’s Aid Society for financial support, to an era of receiving an increase in donations from alumni, companies and foundations feels like real change can finally happen, said Wallace. “It feels like we get a chance to not look like what we’ve been through,” said Wallace. “It means, now, we don’t have to look like struggle. We don’t have to look like Jim Crow. We don’t have to look like our school stood the test of time through segregation. We can look like the future. We’ve got roots and wings, now.” “We are grateful for the Freedman’s Aid Society and the dimes and pennies, and I’m not being facetious,” she continued. “Literally, if someone sent you a penny back then, they had taken food from off of their family’s table to support a cause bigger than their homes, bigger than death threats, bigger than their safety and security, " It means, now, we don’t have to look like struggle. We don’t have to look like Jim Crow. We don’t have to look like our school stood the test of time through segregation. We can look like the future. We’ve got roots and wings, now. " - DR. MELVA K. WALLACE
schools, HT has historically relied on support from neighbors, alumni, city fixtures and newcomers, including Austin FC, the professional soccer team that presented a $20,000 gift during Black History Month in only its third year of operation. This year, a $1.3 million planned gift from the estate of two alumni was announced, in addition to receiving a portion of a $4 million distribution approved by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry (GBHEM). The university also began a strategic partnership with Apple’s Community Education Initiative (CEI) in 2020. “It’s not equal gifts, it’s equal sacrifice,” said Wallace. “Just recently, a 100-year-old man drove his pick up truck to campus and put a check in my hand for $500.” FROM WHENCE THEY CAME Founded in 1875 by the Freedmen's Aid Society of the American Missionary Association of the Congregational Churches – now known as the United Church of Christ – the school was originally named Tillotson and Normal Institute. In 1952, the school merged
SMALL AND PROUD Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated about $26 billion since 2019 to social justice organizations and institutions committed to underserved populations. Following her divorce from Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, she quietly sought out nonprofits, colleges and universities, donating between $5 million to $80 million to roughly 22 percent of HBCUs around the U.S. While Scott’s infusion of more than $1 billion is helping 24 HBCUs build their reputation and infrastructure, 83 HBCUs have not (yet) benefitted from Scott’s fortune. Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, Texas’ very first-ever institute of higher learning, is one of those 83 HBCUs. “People were so happy when the announcement was made because it was not the usual suspects,” said Wallace, a Grambling State University and Jackson State University alumna. “When people want to support an HBCU, they only want to support the big brands instead of a Jarvis Christian University or a Texas College – the 37 small, private schools.” Being one of those small and private
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