Colette Pierce Burnette

"I think there were three or four finalists, and I came on campus for the on-campus interview — and actually this parking lot right there — we pulled into the space and I was practicing in my mind. To go through a presidential search, it's so intense. And one of my mentors told me, "You should throw your hat in that ring to go for that position as a practice, to do a search." So I was practicing."

"And there's been some challenging times — clearly navigating the university through a pandemic, a global pandemic — a lot of triumphs and many trials. The university is postured in a very good place."

"We are going to launch a capital campaign, and I wanted to give someone the opportunity to get to know the city and to most of all get to know the university so that you can get people to lean into investing in the university's mission."

"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've worked really, really hard for us to serve that purpose in Austin. We have all kinds of things happening on our campus that are reflective of that. We are the host site for Earth Day. We've had the Texas Tribune have speakers on campus that are very thought-provoking speakers or topics that are very thought-provoking."