AUSTIN, Texas — Kimberly McCarver grew up in one of the neighborhoods surrounding Huston-Tillotson University, a historically Black university in East Austin. But now, the place she calls home was barely recognizable. 

“I grew up here, so you were used to seeing people like you," she said. "But with the gentrification, with an HBCU in the center of it, it’s an adjustment because you’re noticing that you don’t see people who look like you. There’s a comfortability around it that you kinda lose. It’s not what I’m used to anymore, it’s not even home anymore," she added. 

It's a sentiment shared by East Austin's residents and Huston-Tillotson, but the university said it's not all bad.

“There are some pros and cons to gentrification. Gentrification often leads to economic development, revitalizing an area and bringing it back up to a standard that makes it livable," explained university vice-president, Wayne Knox. "I think, where we’ve missed the mark to some degree is providing a community to legacy residents.”

Knox added that the university added programs to help locals pursue a degree that could lead to a higher paying job, along with partnerships with tech companies, like Apple. Despite all the changes in HTU's surroundings, Knox assured that it won't affect the school.

“The changes in East Austin haven’t affected our enrollment and our brand," Knox stressed. "I think what it does is reassures our brand because, as an institution, we’re stepping up to say that we’re here as a mainstay in East Austin.”

“Like with everything that’s happening around it, HT is still its own little niche," McCarver agreed. "You still get the culture, you still get the black history, you still get East Austin, of what it was before gentrification. So I can appreciate that and I would hope it stays that way so my kids could appreciate that as well.”