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Tennessee’s Senate Education Committee voted Wednesday to vacate the Tennessee State University Board of Trustees, which would sweep out the current members and replace them with new ones. To go into effect, the bill now must be approved by both the state House and Senate, Nashville Scene reported.
The historically Black university has struggled in recent years, prompting scrutiny from lawmakers over inadequate housing inventory and alleged missteps by leaders—including in the way they disbursed student scholarships. TSU officials have pointed out that the HBCU has been underfunded by hundreds of millions of dollars, according to a legislative study.
The vote to vacate the board passed the GOP-led committee with the lone Democratic member voting against the effort. If it passes both bodies of the state legislature, Republican governor Bill Lee will appoint eight new members to the 10-person board, which also includes one student and one faculty representative.
Possible changes at TSU come as board members in Arizona, Hawaii, Michigan and Wisconsin have also come under fire by state leaders. In those cases, the focus has largely been on individual trustees rather than entire governing boards, and driven by a mix of politics and self-inflicted controversies.
