Slade's testimony will remain sealed; TSU brings in military

Former TSU President Priscilla Slade's grand jury testimony won't be unsealed so Slade's ex-assistant can search it for inconsistencies, State District Judge Brock Thomas ruled Wednesday — though a grand jury will be able to review the testimony to see if Slade committed perjury. It's not clear just what inconsistencies prosecutors believe might be in the testimony, but prosecutor Donna Goode said last week that "there's enough concern on my part to go through the gyrations of filing the motion." Slade, of course, is accused of spending nearly $2 million in university funds on unauthorized personal expenses during her term as president.

In other TSU news, via blogHouston, the university's regents have picked James Timothy Boddie Jr., a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general, as interim president. Boddie racked up a lot of honors in his Air Force career, and he said he'll draw on that experience to whip TSU into shape:

Boddie has not worked in academia but said his skills as an administrator — once leading a 6,000-troop base in Korea, "a city within itself" — translates into leading TSU. He said he sees his role as fixing the university's problems before a permanent president is hired.

"I don't come with an agenda," he said. "I just want to make sure everyone on the faculty and staff has the same objective, and that's the betterment of the students."

We'll be interested to see how Boddie's term plays out in Call of da Wild. The TSU regents are expected to hire a search firm this week to begin looking for a permanent president; their goal is to have someone in the office within six months. Boddie won't be a candidate for the permanent position.