An amendment to a bill would remove only 3 of the Tennessee State University (TSU) Board of Trustees members instead of all 10. It did pass in the Government Operations Committee, but there is still a lot of uncertainty around where the Board will end up.
The Senate Education Committee passed a bill last week to get rid of all 10 members of the TSU Board of Trustees.
The newly amended bill would mean Governor Bill Lee appoints a total of 5 people to the TSU Board, not all 10. For context, there are already two vacancies on the Board right now, in addition to the 3 that would be removed according to the new amendment.
Rep Harold Love Jr. (D-Nashville) supported the new bill, citing the need to wait on another big change such as this one.
"I am here in support of 1739 and a continuation of the board so it is not disruptive to our decision making and the issues we have in front of us, and it is not disruptive to our students and our faculty," Love said in the meeting. "We are in the middle of a presidential search, we need to get that completed, there are several other items that the university is dealing with right now with respect to audits and other things, we need to get those completed."
At some point, the House and Senate have to come to an agreement on where to land.
Save TSU Community Coalition speaks
Several TSU representatives spoke after the Committee vote happened.
A common theme was their desire to see more student involvement in these conversations.
"The complete removal of the board is extreme. I think that the student point of view has not been truly brought into this conversation," TSU Trustee Board student representative, Shaun Wimberly Jr., said.
Students in leadership, who represent 7,000 people at TSU, agreed.
"Students are concerned — and students are wondering — what continues to elongate this conversation without any resolutions being held in favor of the students. The students are concerned as to why we have not been brought to the table, why we have not been brought to discussions," Derrell Taylor, 83rd Student government association president, said.
Others who spoke did express a gratitude for the amendment allowing less of the Board to be removed.
"We are very optimistic and hopeful in this moment," Chrishonda O'Quinn, student government association executive vice president, said.
"I am appreciative to this body of legislators who for now backed back off the ledge and is deciding not to vacate the entire board. With that, I do say thank you," Barry Barlow, TSU alum, said.
But they expect more.
"I just suggest that if you want to make decisions on behalf of the university, you talk to the university stakeholders. You step foot on TSU's campus, and you see the conditions that the students have to endure on a day-to-day basis," O'Quinn continued.
"I've proudly worked with President Glover to increase that (TSU) endowment, and in a period of 11 years, the School endowment has gone from 60 million to 145 million. I don't know how anybody could not see that as success," Barlow said. "The school is moving fast toward becoming a research 1 institution, which currently there are only 11 HBCU's that are research 1 institutions — TSU is definitely trending in the right direction."
TSU sent NewsChannel5 the following statement
"Today, the Tennessee House Government Operations Committee voted to extend the TSU Board of Trustees until June 30, 2026. We welcome the amendment that backs away from immediate termination of the entire Board. However, the amended bill to remove three members is still disappointing. These individuals have served productively and admirably as Trustees. Furthermore, removing three key Board members will result in a significant loss of institutional knowledge and expertise on the Board.
TSU has worked from the outset to achieve an extension of the TSU Board of Trustees in order to avoid disruption to our students’ academic activities, continue the momentum achieved by the Board following its adoption of a Board Resolution last year pertaining to TSU’s operational activities, and ensure the progress of the Presidential search process.
Should the House legislation pass in its current form, the House and Senate versions must be reconciled and negotiations will continue. We look forward to continuing to work with legislators in the Senate and House in the upcoming weeks to produce a final piece of legislation that extends the Board and eliminates or minimizes any disruption to the Board and TSU students."
We will be sure to let you know as soon as we hear the final vote for where the Board ends up.
Fostering Hope provides Christmas for kids in foster care. I'm delighted to see Fostering Hope expand this year to expand their reach to now include kids in Foster care in metro AND foster kids in East TN hard hit by Helene.
-Bree Smith
