This story is a partnership between the Nashville Banner and the Nashville Scene. For more information, visit NashvilleBanner.com.
When senior Shaun Wimberly Jr. heard the news that Tennessee State University had been underfunded by $2.1 billion, he was surprised by how big the number was. But he was already aware of some of the school’s history with underfunding, so he wasn’t that surprised.
“I'm happy that it’s getting the national spotlight that it deserves,” the agricultural science major says as he sits in the TSU student government association offices, “because two years ago, it was a local thing, and a lot of people didn't take it seriously at all.”
Two years ago, the bipartisan Joint Land-Grant Institution Funding Study Committee of the Tennessee legislature, co-chaired by Rep. Harold Love Jr. (D-Nashville) and Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville), found that the state had underfunded TSU by at least $544 million between 1956 and 2006. That figure deals with funds the state must match for federal capacity grants. Notably, the state’s other land-grant school, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, received its full match over the same period.
In 2022 Gov. Bill Lee budgeted, and the state legislature approved, a one-time payment of $250 million to TSU to go toward correcting this underfunding. Walk through the TSU campus today and you can already see some of the fruits of that money. In the student center alone, the cafeteria has been completely remodeled, student lounges are decked out in new furniture, and the lyrics to the school’s alma mater have been painted along the atrium. Elsewhere, auditoriums, classrooms and other facilities have been repaired or upgraded.
This latest underfunding news came on Sept. 18, when the U.S. secretaries of education and agriculture sent letters to 16 state governors, including Gov. Lee. In Tennessee’s case, the feds found that the state had underfunded TSU by $2.1 billion between 1987 and 2020, based on per-student spending at each school. Rep. Love characterizes this number as dealing with a “different bucket” of money than the capacity grant match funding he has worked to tabulate and correct.
Derrell Taylor, a senior business administration major and president of TSU’s student government association, first saw the $2.1 billion number while scrolling social media, and it immediately sent him down a rabbit hole — trying to learn as much as he could about land-grant universities. Then, he started meeting with fellow SGA members like Wimberly.
“I think that a lot of students and faculty have realized that we have been stuck,” Wimberly says. “We have been forced to do a lot more with less.”
SGA vice president Chrishonda O’Quinn, a senior business administration major, says she knows many of her fellow students feel discouraged by the news. “But our role in this is to make sure they don't lose hope,” she says. “And that they realize that this is very much possible, and that we won't let anything slip through the cracks, and we won't back down.”
All three students have thrown themselves into making sure the school is repaid for past underfunding and equitably funded going forward. They’ve met with fellow students, faculty and outgoing TSU president Dr. Glenda Glover. They’ve hosted a town hall on campus featuring high-profile attorney Ben Crump. They say they’ve also been in conversations with state lawmakers, including members of the state board of education and the education committee of the legislature. Taylor and O’Quinn even traveled to Washington, D.C., where they met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus and staff from Sen. Marsha Blackburn’s office.
These talks have been encouraging, but these students say they’ve received no commitments from politicians so far to address the $2.1 billion shortfall. “We know they're listening, we know that they're aware, we know that they're educated,” Taylor says. “Now, we're waiting on the response and action plan.”
At the Nov. 16 TSU board of trustees meeting, President Glover proposed a five-year repayment plan for the state, starting with $285 million of the $2.1 billion in year one. It’s unclear how state officials intend to approach any kind of repayment, or even that they accept the federal underfunding calculation. Gov. Lee’s office did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
For her part, O’Quinn says no matter what happens, it’s crucial that students are at the forefront. “We run the institution, we bring money to this institution,” she says. “We are very powerful.”
With the semester drawing to a close, these students have been focused on their studies — for the moment. Wimberly says he feels like this is the “calm before the storm.” He and his fellow student leaders understand that the governor cannot simply write a check for $2.1 billion, and that any action on addressing TSU funding will require action from the Tennessee General Assembly, which doesn’t reconvene until Jan. 9. But they were able to meet privately with Gov. Lee for about an hour on Tuesday afternoon.
“It was a great first meeting,” O’Quinn tells the Nashville Banner. “It was a great opportunity for us to advocate on behalf of the student body.” Both Taylor and Wimberly echo that sentiment. And all three say they were struck by how strongly Gov. Lee expressed his love and support for TSU.
“I think that he understands TSU has needed more support since, maybe, its founding date,” Taylor says. “And he understands the importance of HBCUs.” Both Taylor and his fellow student leaders characterize the conversation as “general.”
“I was looking for different answers and more acknowledgment of the $2 billion itself,” Wimberly says. “There wasn’t anything specific that was acknowledged.” He added that he didn’t recall the governor ever using the word “underfunding.” Even so, all three say they were grateful for the opportunity, felt “optimistic,” and looked forward to meeting with Lee again early next year. Meanwhile, O’Quinn says, “We welcome any state officials and legislators to visit the campus.”
That’s where continuing to educate their fellow students and the broader TSU community will remain a top priority when classes resume in the new year.
“As we update TSU, our primary goal is to hold the state accountable for righting these wrongs,” Taylor says. “Our goal is for state to address this without blaming TSU for anything.”
