Texas HBCUs hold statewide conference at Huston-Tillotson to address funding inequities

Texas students and campus leaders held the state’s first Texas Historically Black Colleges and Universities Conference in Austin over the weekend to discuss the need for increased investments in HBCUs. The event, held at Huston-Tillotson University, featured speeches from campus leaders, a conversation with state lawmakers who represent HBCUs in their districts and a roundtable discussion with students who spoke about the experience and challenges of attending HBCUs. Archie Vanderpuye, Huston-Tillotson University provost, said organizers developed the conference to create opportunities for students to learn and shed light on the need for more resources and support for HBCUs in Texas. He said he hopes the conference leads to more support for HBCU's in the state and across the country.

“While we focus on Texas, we are definitely aware that our sister institutions in other states share this common goal, and it is our hope that we're going to share what we learn here with them so that we can build a shared future together,” Vanderpuye said. Jeffrey Clemmons, a Huston-Tillotson alumnus, who graduated in 2021, said there has been a “funding inequity from day one” between money for HBCUs and the flagship state university systems. In addition to addressing inequities, he said one of the conference's goals is to develop a coalition of HBCUs that can address shared issues in the future. “Prior to this moment, as far as we could tell, while there were informal channels, there was never a unified conference of HBCUs,” Clemmons said. “We were never able to come together in a unified fashion and advocate for issues, and so I certainly hope that the one thing that comes out of this is that we will no longer be strangers to one another and we will be united”