De Puertas Abiertas
For students from the Global Majority (Black, Indigenous, Hispanic/LatinX, and Asian/Pacific Islander)
The De Puertas Abiertas Fellowships
Three fellowships are awarded to entering students from the Global Majority (Black, Indigenous, Hispanic/LatinX, and Asian/Pacific Islander) who enroll in the Master of Divinity program each year. Each fellowship, renewable for a period up to three years, will cover the full cost of matriculation: tuition, fees, and a stipend for campus housing and additional expenses. These merit fellowships will be voted upon by the faculty each spring and given to students from the Global Majority who demonstrate interest in and strong promise for leadership in the church and exceptional academic achievement.
The De Puertas Abiertas Tuition Grants
These tuition grants cover 100% of the tuition for students of the Global Majority who are enrolled full time in the MDiv or MATS program. Though given without regard to need, recipients are required to meet satisfactory academic progress, and the grants are subject to the availability of funds. Current students of color are invited to opt in to this new program.
Our History
The De Puertas Abiertas program is a response to past and present realities of theological education opportunities for people of color. Austin Seminary has a long and storied history for developing pastors and leaders for the church, but as an institution that crosses centuries, our ethos does not now look as it did 100 years ago. Some of those changes reflect ingenuity, scholarship, and character, and these we laud with photographs on walls and integration into our story; other decisions and parts of our history caused harm to our communities of color.
In one of Austin Seminary’s more disturbing practices, early 20th-century students of Hispanic ancestry were not allowed in the classrooms but were kept separate—at desks in the halls—allowed only to gather what learning floated through open doors and windows. It was through these puertas abiertas (open doors) that students of color found the education that encouraged their call to Christian vocation.
Austin Seminary has gone through a deliberate period of reflection on its history, culminating in “Days of Memory and Hope,” honoring its first LatinX/Hispanic and African American students, faculty, and staff. Through these events, and the research leading up to them, we learned many of the ways students of color were kept on the margins of the community, even when enrolled as students. As part of a path forward and to honor the students who came before, Austin Seminary is pleased to establish De Puertas Abiertas—where students are not held outside but invited into full participation in this community of learning.