Huston-Tillotson Receives Single Largest Gift to an HBCU

Huston-Tillotson University, a private institution in Texas, will receive the single largest donation ever given to a historically Black college or university: $150 million, paid out over the next decade.

The gift from the Moody Foundation coincides with the university’s 150th anniversary and was announced at the university’s opening convocation Thursday. Two years ago, the Texas-based Moody Foundation pledged to give out a total of $1 billion to support education in the state by 2035. The donation to Huston-Tillotson marks the largest gift Moody has ever given, CNN reported.

“This institution is special in more ways than most are aware and [is] deserving of a grant of this magnitude,” Elle Moody, the foundation’s senior vice president of grants, said in a statement to CNN. “We believe in Huston-Tillotson, and we’re committed to supporting the next 150 years.”

Huston-Tillotson’s president and CEO, Melva K. Wallace, called the gift “transformational” for the university, which currently serves 1,059 students.

“I see this as an endorsement of what we’re doing and a rocket booster to help us get to the next level,” Wallace told CNN.