Many may feel that asking who runs Tennessee State University is a rhetorical question, but it is worth exploring when you look at what is taking place at the university.
There have been some monumental changes at TSU that some may feel are suspect, especially as it relates to the new Board of Trustees and the appointment of Interim President Dr. Ronald Johnson.
Not everyone believes these changes were warranted or necessary, especially when two audits demanded by the state found TSU innocent of malfeasance or fraudulent activity.
There were some accounting problems found but nothing short of what other universities or colleges experience.
No doubt some people see the state’s apparent obsession to discredit TSU as a witch hunt to justify their actions to run the university.
Can one honestly say TSU is treated and given the same respect as Tennessee’s PWIs (predominately white institutions) such as the University of Tennessee and Middle Tennessee State University?
Yes, TSU has internal administrative problems like other universities, but why is TSU being targeted as the poster child for incompetency?
When you find legitimate operating shortcomings in a department or administration, one would think these problems would be pointed out and the administration would have a designated time period to correct the problems.
But this would be acting in good faith offering the administration the benefit of respect – something the state has yet to show TSU.
The university did present a plan and timeframe to correct its deficiencies, but the state has ignored it in an attempt to control TSU.
Contrary to what some may believe, TSU only gets approximately 23% of its funding from the state while the majority of funding comes from enrollment and housing.
That being the case, why does the state want full autonomy or control of TSU?
And the saddest part is some have hinted that the state has saboteurs within the university working to disassemble the university from within.
So, again, the question would be: why the obsession by the state to control TSU?
If one connects the dots, the state began to show its true colors and domination over TSU when former president Glenda Glover began to fight vehemently for the $2.1 billion owed by the state to TSU.
The fight was put on by some state legislators to do whatever necessary to discredit Glover’s administration and justify her retirement.
The unprecedented enrollment precipitating TSU’s housing problems became the log on the fire, and the state has still failed to take responsibility for its role in denying TSU the money it was owed that could have helped to mitigate the problem.
One must understand that housing challenges from over-enrollment are nothing new to growing universities and colleges.
Now as it stands, many TSU supporters feel the state has manipulated the university by putting their own puppets in place to do their bidding.
You can sum it up as conjectures or hyperboles, but as they say: if it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it must be a duck.
Some say the motivating obsession by the state to control TSU is to make it a predominately white university, minimizing its Black history, culture, and traditions to appease and attract more white students.
Do your own homework and tell me who you think runs TSU?
