President's Fall Opening Convocation

HISTORY OF THE INSTITUTION

TILLOTSON COLLEGE

The roots of Tillotson College date back to 1875 and build upon work of the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the American Missionary Association of the Congregational churches (now United Church of Christ). Chartered in 1877 as Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute, the school began classes on January 17, 1881. Many of Tillotson’s first students had no prior formal education. However, the eager students, who numbered 100 by the end of the first year, understood that their admission to Tillotson made them among the elect of their race and placed upon them the responsibility to enrich others through the skills they would derive from their education.

On June 2, 1909, a new charter was issued and the school was renamed Tillotson College, a “normal school” for the training of teachers for the black community. The school was reorganized in 1925 as a junior college; in 1926 as a women’s college; and again in 1931 as a senior, co-educational institution. Renowned for its departments of education and music, the college received class A accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in 1943.

SAMUEL HUSTON COLLEGE

In 1876, the Reverend George Warren Richardson, a Methodist minister from Minnesota, leased St. Paul Methodist Episcopal Church of Dallas, Texas, as the site for a school for the African American youth of the city. In 1878, the school was moved to Austin, Texas, and housed in what is now Wesley United Methodist Church.

As was the case with Tillotson College, Samuel Huston underwent various configurations throughout its developmental years. Before the end of its first year, the fledgling school had been adopted by the West Texas Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and renamed Andrews Normal College in honor of a church leader. In December of 1887, however, Samuel Huston, a farmer from Marengo, Iowa, donated property estimated to be worth $10,000, with the understanding that the school would bear his name. Samuel Huston College was chartered in 1910 as a private educational corporation under the laws of Texas. In 1926, it was approved as a senior college by the State of Texas Department of Education and in 1934 was accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

THE MERGER

Throughout the history of Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College, moral and religious instruction undergirded the curriculum at both institutions. The schools also contributed significantly to the social and civic life of Austin’s black citizens. Located less than one mile apart in East Austin, the institutions enjoyed healthy competition and rivalry in athletic programs, cooperation in student activities, and collegial relationships among the faculty, staff, and students. These features became distinguishing traits of the two campuses, while the corresponding commitment to community service affirmed the institutions’ concept of the responsibilities that befell educated persons.

However, despite periods of relative prosperity, neither college enjoyed a wealth of material or financial resources. Consequently, and because of their mutual interests, values, and constituencies, the trustees of Samuel Huston College and Tillotson College met jointly on January 26, 1952, and agreed to detailed plans for merging the two institutions on the site (then known as “Bluebonnet Hill”) of Tillotson College. The merger was consummated, and the new Charter of Incorporation for Huston-Tillotson College was signed on October 24, 1952. The merged institutions adopted “In Union, Strength” as their motto.

Following the merger, Huston-Tillotson College became the sole provider of higher education for African-Americans in Central Texas until the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education (1954), which launched the period of desegregation. Today the College continues to both honor and foster its relationship with its founding denominations as well as its ethnic heritage.

On February 28, 2005, the institution advanced its mission further by changing the name to Huston-Tillotson University.

PRESIDENT’S FALL OPENING CONVOCATION

Archibald W. Vanderpuye, Ph.D. Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs

Presiding

Prelude............................................. ” Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”................... Stephen Burnaman, DMA University Organist

Processional*.......................................................“Festive Trumpet Tune” ....................................................... David German

Invocation ............................................................................................................................... Donald E. Brewington, M.Div. University Chaplain

Musical Presentation*......................................“Lift Every Voice and Sing”...........................................................Audience Marcus J. Rhodes. DMA Associate Professor of Music

Greetings from the City Honorable Kirk Watson Mayor, City of Austin

Greetings from the Board of Trustees

Carol McDonald, L.L.D., ’09 Chair, Huston-Tillotson University Board of Trustees

Greetings from the Faculty Amanda M. Masino. Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biology

Greetings from the Students...................................................................................... Jasmine Shephard and John Trey Shead Miss and Mister Huston-Tillotson University

Presentation of New Freshman Students Yohannis A. Job, J.D. Vice President of Enrollment Management

Introduction of the Speaker ........................................................................................................................... Angel L. Traylor President, Student Government Association

B. Bradbury arr. Micheal H. Reid

Huston-Tillotson University Concert Choir

Marcus J. Rhodes, DMA Associate Professor of Music

Opening Address ..................................................................................................................

Melva K. Wallace. Ph.D. President and CEO

Closing Remarks ...................................................................................................

Archibald W. Vanderpuye, Ph.D. Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs

Audience

Benediction*

Donald E. Brewington, M.Div. University Chaplain

For Our New Rams: Lord, we pray for courage. Bless them with a willingness to try new things, explore new subjects, and expand their worlds. Give them the freedom to fail and then build up in them the resilience to try again.

For Our Students’ Families and Friends: Lord, we ask that you turn the hearts of family and friends of our students away from worry and toward gratitude, away from regret and toward contentment, away from holding on and toward letting go. Give them the knowledge and understanding that their student is in the palm of your hand. We are grateful for how you have used parents and stepparents, relatives, and friends to shape these students. We pray that you give them wisdom as they continue to invest in their students’ lives.

For Our Returning Rams: Lord, we pray that you empower them to be people of integrity: may the words they sing in worship be lived out in the classroom, on the playing field, in rehearsal rooms, and in the residence halls. May the lives that they live and the choices they make glorify You most Holy God. As they choose areas of focus for their studies, guide them to areas in which they can find you already at work.

For Our Faculty and Staff: Lord, we pray for joy as they enter a new academic year. May those who teach be empowered by your Holy Spirit to teach with boldness and compassion, with warmth and fairness, with justice and mercy. May those on our staff be satisfied with the work they have done this summer to prepare the campus for this fall. We pray that all employees of Huston-Tillotson University will be blessed with a longing to serve those around them wisely and well, with patience toward those with whom they work, and with joy that pervades their lives at work and at home.

For all of us: May the Lord bless us and keep us. May he make his face to shine upon us and be gracious to us. May the Lord let the light of his countenance shine upon us and give us peace. Amen!

The Alma Mater*

Lift Every Voice and Sing

Lift ev’ry voice and sing, till earth and heaven ring, ring with the harmonies of liberty. Let our rejoicing rise high as the list’ning skies, let it resound loud as the rolling sea.

Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us. Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us. Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, let us march on till victory is won.

Stony the road we trod, bitter the chast’ning rod, felt in the days when hope unborn had died; yet with a steady beat, have not our weary feet come to the place for which our people sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered. We have come, treading our path thro’ the blood of the slaughtered, out from the gloomy past, till now we stand at last where the bright gleam of our bright star is cast.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who hast brought us thus far on the way, thou who hast by thy might led us into the light, keep us forever in the path, we pray. Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met thee; lest our hearts, drunk with the wine of the world, we forget thee; shadowed beneath thy hand, may we forever stand, true to our God, true to our native land.

- James Weldon Johnson

Huston-Tillotson University Alma Mater

From her eastern windows shining Comes the promise of the day. Huston-Tillotson, Alma Mater, Gentle guardian of the way. From the weary plains and lowlands, Proudly to her hill above, Huston-Tillotson, Alma Mater, Lift our hearts in faith and love.

Founded on the Rock Eternal, Looking ever tow’rd the light, Wise in mind and great in spirit, Holding fast her vision bright. Come you loyal sons and daughters, Strong and free your voices raise To Huston-Tillotson, Alma Mater, In blessing, gratitude, and praise.

- Fred Waring