Terence Blanchard

Terence Blanchard

Fifty years ago, downtown Houston looked like a series of parking lots connected by an occasional mid-level building.

It grew into a hotbed of big business and arts organizations, but its soul is on the outermost tip of downtown where the bayous meet — University of Houston-Downtown. It opened in 1974 to expand educational opportunities for communities without many options.

Today, as it celebrates 50 years, the university boasts 15,000 students, with more 70 percent of them first-generation college graduates. It is located amid the extremes of sprawling development and homelessness. It boasts on being the university with the lowest tuition rate in the city.

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“You realize that the real importance is lifting people from where they are and giving them opportunities that they would not be able to afford had it not been for a higher........

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