Huston-Tillotson University will formally welcome a new president on Saturday.
Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette will be only the second female president in the institution’s 140-year history.
With enrollment currently at 1,028 students, Dr. Pierce Burnette told KXAN there is work to do.
“Challenges are opportunities. So growing our enrollment, finding our space of physical stabilization, and playing the role of what I’m calling the ‘intellectual heartbeat of east Austin,’” Pierce Burnette said.
The percentage of African-American residents is declining in Austin. She believes H-T is in a position to make a difference.
“We need to stop the brain drain of people of color. We market ourselves as a part of Austin – a destination city. When college graduates love the city they live in, they tend to stay in that city because it’s their comfort zone, it’s where they grew up. And that’s an advantage to Huston Tillotson University. read more
