Black lawmakers, students and alumni of Tennessee State University are outraged that Gov. Bill Lee, in an unprecedented move, signed into law legislation that dismantled the storied historically Black college’s board of trustees.
Calls for a new board began in 2023, after multiple audit reports highlighted concerns around the mishandling of finances, housing and scholarships. A bill was then crafted that would replace three board members, before being amended to remove all of them.
A new forensic audit spanning from July 2019 through June 2023 was released Wednesday. It offered dozens of recommendations and pointed to “deficient processes” but did not uncover “fraud or malfeasance.” The following day, the Republican-controlled and majority-white Tennessee House voted in favor of the bill dismantling the board, 66-25. Lee quickly signed it into law.
Lee said he was “pleased” with the appointments for a new board — all of whom are Black and distinguished members of the Nashville business and political community.
TSU president Glenda Glover is stepping down in June, and a search is underway for her replacement.
Not everyone is happy with the goings-on.
Democratic Rep. Harold Love, who is a TSU alum, said vacating the whole board leaves the school in flux at a time when the president is a lame duck.
“We are deeply concerned about the effect it will have upon the administration, the students and the direction the school is trying to go into to rectify some of the concerns raised in the audits,” Love said.
He added, “We had an amendment in Government Operations (Committee) that vacated three board members, and that was the amendment we thought was going to be on the bill. In the conversations, things did not go the way I guess some of the members wanted to have happen, so as a result they chose that route.”
Many students at Tennessee State are in an…
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