Republican lawmakers have filed bills that could threaten the future of Tennessee State University’s board of trustees. The historically Black university has been under intense scrutiny by state leaders in recent years amid ongoing issues — even as the school has been subjected to severe underfunding from the state.
Last year, a critical comptroller report addressed communication, finance and housing-related issues during a subcommittee. The report came alongside policy suggestions such as placing TSU under the direction of the Board of Regents, reconfiguring TSU’s current board of trustees, replacing TSU management, increasing reporting on scholarship and enrollment information, and increasing campus housing options. TSU president Glenda Glover, who has since announced her retirement, testified at the committee and agreed to make changes. The subcommittee unanimously voted to recommend an extension of TSU’s board of trustees for another year with continued reporting requirements.
In 2021, a joint legislative committee researched TSU’s history of underfunding. A report found that between 1956 and 2006, the university had been shorted at least $544 million by the state — even though the state’s other land-grant university, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, wasn’t. In 2022, the state gave TSU $250 million. In September 2023, however, federal leaders indicated that the school has been shorted more than $2.1 billion in the past 30 years.
Several pieces of legislation regarding TSU have been filed for the 2024 legislative session, though two bills show the intent of some lawmakers to vacate the board and turn the university over to the state. SB1596/HB1739 — sponsored by Rep. John Ragan (R-Oak Ridge) and Sens. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield), Jon Lundberg (R-Bristol) and Bo Watson (R-Hixson) — would terminate TSU’s board on June 30. The bill is scheduled to be heard in a Senate government operations committee on Feb.7. SB2109/HB2346, which is sponsored by Lundberg and Ragan, would transfer state university boards that no longer exist to the state. In its current state, the proposed legislation would transfer board duties to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission on June 29 at 11:59 p.m. of the year the board sunsets. The bill also allows the governor to give control of the board to another state entity. The bill is scheduled to be heard in a Senate education committee on Feb. 7.
On Monday, WKRN reported that some TSU students who won scholarships and financial aid had not received their expected funds and feared being purged by the school amid a payment deadline. Though TSU told WKRN in a statement that institutional scholarships had been allocated, it was also “seeking assistance from third parties to help students.”
"TSU is working with legislators to address potential issues and challenges associated with this bill, addressing any legislation that would have detrimental effects on our students and the university, and avoid the potential existence of a substantially different governance structure than created under the FOCUS Act," TSU says in a statement, per WKRN's Chris O'Brien.
The school further warned that legislative threats to the university's leadership could hurt the ongoing search for a new president.
"TSU has had financial turmoil for 18 months — well, more than that," Lundberg tells the Scene. "Clearly, there's various issues, whether it's lack of competence, lack of attention, not only from the administration and the president of the institution, but candidly from the board. The president has announced her intention to retire, and that's very positive."
"The funding, or past funding, is not the issue," he says. "It's currently in how they've done it. ... It is unfortunate, because I think TSU has, candidly, incredible faculty members. They have some great students. I think leadership has really let them all down."
