Huston-Tillotson's outgoing president says she knows it's wise to 'leave the party when you're having fun.'
Dr. Colette Pierce Burnette says the Huston-Tillotson University campus in Austin "has a magic to it" that she experienced for the first time when she visited for her interview in the spring of 2015. Pierce Burnette says she told her husband after the interview she "had to get that job."arrived on the Huston-Tillotson University campus in Austin for a job interview to be president in 2015, she was there for practice.
Pierce Burnette says she is leaving H-T in a good position and although she doesn't think Austin fully appreciates it and fully understands"the jewel that it is," she does believe the city appreciates H-T more than it did in 2015. When I decided to retire, that was a very hard decision for me. There was an evolution for me. I think you have to know when it's time to pass the baton. And I've had a beautiful journey as the president of Huston-Tillotson University and as a resident of Austin, Texas. Those two things go together for me. Not only is the university magical, but it's in a magical city.
I love my students and I love this mission and I love the role that Huston-Tillotson University plays in Austin and in Austin's prosperity and in higher education. I did not attend a historically Black college, but I've dedicated the last almost 23 years of my professional career to the mission because there's something that happens to young people on these campuses.
We're also an honest broker in courageous, hard conversations when it comes to conversations about race and about inequities and biases. And that's the role colleges play in general in their communities. You're an honest broker for spaces for people to come and have really good, courageous conversations about how we truly build a beloved community.Pierce Burnette speaks during the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Huston-Tillotson on Jan. 17.
I don't think that Austin fully appreciates it and fully understands the jewel that it is. However, comma, Austin appreciates it much more than it did in 2015. And Austin is open to understanding what a jewel in the violet crown of Austin is than it did in 2015. When I started, I would meet people — 10 people — and nine of them had never been on this campus.
How do you see Huston-Tillotson and its strength and growth coupling up with what's happening in greater Austin with the Black population? How do those two things exist together in the same city? Student success is paramount. You think students first — think students — then you decide. Student success is paramount. You keep that as your North Star. All your decisions are going to be wonderful decisions.
And the population that we serve — affordability is an issue, so scholarships are super important so that we can keep education as a right, not a privilege. And us being a small, liberal arts minority serving institution, historically Black college, our mission is just something that people should invest in because education is the great equalizer. It is. So we all improve when we have a more educated citizenry.
I feel like we can't have a conversation getting close to your retirement without talking about the COVID-19 pandemic because you were talking about practicing, thinking about being universe president — I don't think there's a rule book out there for university presidents for what to do when a global pandemic hits. Talk a little bit about what it was like to navigate this institution, Houston Tillotson University, through a global pandemic.eligible, you're always in a crisis.
If you focus on student success, your decisions will be excellent decisions and then stay within the means of what you can do, but at the same time demand excellence. And then you really can't steer from that.
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