Tennessee House Republicans on Thursday voted to vacate the entire Tennessee State University board over the outcries of Democrats as the GOP supermajority reneged on a previous deal struck in committee to keep three of the board’s 10 members.
Gov. Bill Lee signed the legislation into law by Thursday evening, an unusually fast move that comes as TSU actively interviews presidential candidates this week, and appointed eight new members to the board. A faculty appointment and a non-voting student member will round out the board.
More:TN Senate votes to vacate Tennessee State University board despite House compromise
Republicans argued a full leadership turnover is required after a scathing state audit last year and financial issues at TSU over the years, though House Democrats on Thursday suggested wiping the board clean is retribution after the board previously refused to oust outgoing TSU President Glenda Glover.
A $2-million external forensic audit, commissioned by legislators and released on Thursday, found no instances of fraud or malfeasance at the historically Black university in Nashville, though it noted a 250% increase in scholarships at TSU between 2019 and 2023 was not sustainable. The scholarship and enrollment boom led to critical housing shortages on campus.
Democrats continually point to decades of historic underfunding of TSU, the only public HBCU in the state, arguing TSU has not been set up for success in stark contrast to other public universities with historically white student bodies. Recent data from the Department of Education and the Department of Agriculture calculated Tennessee underfunded TSU at a whopping $2.1 billion over the last 30 years, the largest amount of any state.
“Tennessee State University was denied those resources, and because they were denied the resources there were problems that occurred,” said Rep. Justin Pearson, D-Memphis. “But instead of us rectifying the problems that we created through racist policies by underfunding Tennessee State University, we’re now advocating to vacate their board.”
Rep. John Ragan, R-Oak Ridge, said TSU “miserably failed” its audit report from the comptroller, though he didn’t appear to reference the external report released Thursday that found no malfeasance. The new audit did find some questionable spending and a series of “significant procedural deficiencies.”
“The committee I chair gave them multiple opportunities and an extended period of time, which I personally carried bills for, to settle those discrepancies. They did not make satisfactory progress. That is the source of this bill,” Ragan said. “If in fact those corrective actions had been taken in a timely fashion, this bill would not be before us. I encourage you to make the effort to look up at that audit report.”
The minority party’s pleas to maintain at least a few current board members for continuity and institutional knowledge as the university undergoes a presidential search fell on deaf ears, however. One Democrat warned Republicans the “optics” of a majority white legislature ousting the entire board of an HBCU were “horrendous,” particularly amid a turbulent year at the General Assembly after the House supermajority expelled its youngest two, Black members.
“You’re driving off the cliff right now,” Rep. Bo Mitchell, D-Nashville, said. “I worked in Gov Ops many years as a staffer. I’ve seen many audits of many universities that look horrendous. Have we ever, ever vacated an entire board of a university before? Have we ever done that? But an HBCU that we owe $2 billion to? Oh yea, we’re going to take their board.”
Mitchell said the threat to vacate the board amounted to telling TSU to “sit down and shut up and accept the crumbs we send you.” Mitchell implored centrist Republicans to break with their party on the vote.
Rep, Ryan Williams, R-Cookeville, argued it is not the first time in Tennessee history college boards have been “reconstituted” in the state. Williams said money the legislature allocated to begin to make up the TSU funding difference was “completely blown through” when TSU accepted and gave scholarships to too many students.
“The challenges are dire,” Williams said. “The key here is we want to give the other $198 million but we have to have assurances that future investment, or that remedy to this problem, is going to be well taken care of.”
Glover, who has led TSU for a decade, announced in August that she would step down at the end of the year. This week, the TSU board named the three finalists to replace Glover and were hosting them on campus as Lee signed the legislation into law and announced new board members Thursday evening.
TSU calls bill ‘unprecedented, unfortunate’
In a statement following the House vote, TSU said the institution has been a “good steward of taxpayer dollars,” noting there have been no audit findings that TSU mismanaged funds, nor has it “engaged in any fraud or malfeasance.”
“This is unprecedented, unfortunate, and uncharted waters for any public university in the state,” TSU’s statement said. “We believe this legislation will disrupt our students’ educational pursuits, harm the image of the University, and remove a Board that had achieved success in its enhanced governance of TSU.”
TSU also noted the chronic underfunding the university has faced.
“TSU would undoubtedly be in a different position today if it had received the funds promised by the state over the course of the last three decades,” TSU’s statement said. “While we are very disappointed by today’s vote, we will continue to work with the General Assembly and the Governor’s office to pursue options, both in funding and governance, that allow TSU to continue the momentum it has achieved in enrollment, research, academics, and providing great opportunities for students.”
Student government reps upset by vote but hopeful for future
After the vote, local activists and students from TSU held a news conference at the state Capitol to express their disapproval of the vote. TSU Student Government Association Vice President Chrishonda O’Quinn said she felt lawmakers’ actions during debate and discussion on the bill were disrespectful to the students she represents.
“I am very upset that decisions have been made about the university without anyone having direct conversation with the main stakeholders of the university — the students.” O’Quinn said. “They say they love TSU, they say they want to see TSU succeed, but their actions don’t match what they’re saying … If you love TSU, treat TSU as such.”
SGA President Derrell Taylor, a senior at TSU, called the decision “heartbreaking,” and noted that lawmakers’ votes did not reflect the wishes of TSU students who have reached out with letters and phone calls asking them not to vacate the university’s board.
“It’s pretty interesting to me that I have to stand up and say ‘hey, as a student, I believe that people who look like me… should represent my university,'” Taylor said. “Why does something like that have to be said? Why does it take a student each and every time to say, ‘this is not what we want’? And why hasn’t it been heard?”
But, he remains hopeful for the future.
“I’m totally confident that this university that has persevered through so much will continue to persevere,” Taylor said.
New TSU board appointees
Lee made the appointments shortly before 6 p.m. on Thursday. He appointed:
- Trevia Chatman, president, Bank of America Memphis
- Jeffery Norfleet, provost and vice president for administration, Shorter College
- Marquita Qualls, founder and principal, Entropia Consulting
- Terica Smith, deputy mayor and director of human resources, Madison County
- Charles Traughber, general counsel, Division of Real Estate, Retail, and Financial Services at Bridgestone Americas
- Dwayne Tucker, CEO of LEAD Public Schools
- Kevin Williams, president and CEO of GAA Manufacturing
- Dakasha Winton, senior vice president and chief government relations officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
Todd Price and Vivian Jones contributed to this story.
