Plotting a course for TSU's future

Two things seem clear from last night's town hall meeting on problems at Texas Southern University: one, that TSU has problems that need fixing, and two, that supporters feel putting the school under a state university system would be a big mistake. Hundreds of people attended the meeting held by the Texas Southern University Advisory Committee, the group Gov. Rick Perry appointed to find a way to clean up far-reaching financial problems at the historically black university — and several gave their opinions on how to begin. "I'm tired of being ashamed of my school," alumna Gloria Chandler, who earned degrees from TSU in 1958 and 1964, said. She told the committee that holding the right people accountable, starting with the Board of Regents, is essential: "That's where you start — at the top, where this mess started," she said.

Chandler also hit on what seems to be one of the key sentiments of TSU supporters: that the school must remain independent. "I do not want this school taken under the wing of anybody. I want it to remain free and independent," she said, drawing a standing ovation. But TSU law professor and former law dean Otis King had a different view, saying that a state university system like UT, A&M or UH would give TSU needed structure. "The problem, very simply, has been oversight," he said, adding that the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over despite repeated failures. If that's the case, it seems someone is insane: The state has given TSU a series of ultimatums related to its management fiascoes over the last 20 years or so, but the result of every one has been something along the lines of "Well, maybe they'll get it right this time." Where has that gotten TSU most recently? Its former president has been indicted for financial mismanagement, and the school needs $16.6 milion in emergency funding to make it through this fiscal year.

Of course, depending on who you ask, an indicted former president and massive debt may not really be all that bad. State Rep. Garnet Coleman, for example, blamed scrutiny of TSU on certain "Chicken Littles" who he said have exaggerated the school's problems. Other universities have been in similar situations, Coleman said, but haven't been criticized for it because they weren't black universities. Nevertheless, he said the advisory panel is a good idea: "To give people more confidence, you need to give new oversight," he told the AP.