Did you know Huston-Tillotson University in east Austin was established in 1875, making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the city? To put that into perspective, that’s two years before St. Edward’s University + nearly a decade before The University of Texas at Austin was founded. This historically Black university — also known as an HBCU — was originally named Tillotson Collegiate and Normal Institute after Reverend George Jeffrey Tillotson, who chartered the school. The school was created with the support of the Freedmen’s Aid Society of the American Missionary Association of the Congregational churches. Huston-Tillotson University was actually created from two schools: Tillotson College and Samuel Huston College. Dr. Reuben Shannon Lovinggood became the first president of Samuel Huston College in 1900. Notably, Dr. Karl Everett Downs became Samuel Huston College’s president in 1943, making him the youngest president of a college or university at…..