The Tennessean: Republican lawmakers vacate full Tennessee State University board over Democratic objections
From The Tennessean …
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.
The House's move aligns it with the Senate, where Republican leadership last week indicated they would not compromise on their goal of ousting the entire board. Now, the bill will go to Gov. Bill Lee's desk and he will be tasked with appointing new members when the new law takes effect.
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 state, majority white public universities. 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.
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