End to the drama

External review of admissions irregularities brings a chance for TSU to move forward.

After months of hints and allegations, firings and resignations, an external review of admissions irregularities at Texas Southern University brings some measure of clarity and the chance to move forward.

U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan, the first African American woman elected to Congress from the South, earned her college degree there. Muralist John Biggers founded the art department and influenced Houstonian artists who have brought our city international attention. Founded at a time when African Americans were barred from most Texas institutions of higher education, the school remains one of Houston’s most important academic and cultural institutions.

Anyone who cares about TSU and its students should take this opportunity to put an end to the drama that has shaken the historically black university — dividing board members, administration and alumni — and which led to the ouster of school President Austin Lane in March.

Detailed in an executive summary released May 28, the report found that from 2017 to 2019, about half of fall freshmen students — 4,141 of 8,273 — fell short of the university’s admission standards and were allowed to register based on undocumented exceptions.

The review also found that more than 900 of those students received $2.1 million in scholarships, despite not meeting qualifications for the scholarship or other financial aid programs.

The folly of admitting students who were not academically prepared was immediately apparent, with those who did not meet admissions criteria faring worse than students who did. More than 60 percent of students in the fall 2017 cohort and about half in the fall 2018 group were no longer enrolled by fall 2019, according to the report.

The impact of the breakdown in admissions standards is not limited to devaluing a degree from TSU. It left many of the unprepared students floundering, dropping out with no degree and loan debt that limits their chances of continuing their education.

“Our mission at Texas Southern is not to make it more difficult for an underserved population to get an education,” Marc Carter, vice chair of the Board of Regents, told the editorial board. “We need to make it realistic and meaningful and the education that they get should be valuable.”

The problems at TSU, reported by the Chronicle’s Brittany Britto, first came to light in November, when the board announced it was looking into the university’s admissions — including enrollment, financial aid, scholarship protocols and standards for all university colleges — stemming from what was later revealed to be bribery allegations at TSU’s law school.

In January, the board placed Lane, who had headed TSU since 2016, on administrative leave with no explanation and appointed the school’s chief financial officer, Kenneth Huewitt, as interim president. A week later, under public pressure, the board announced the move was tied to the investigation into alleged improprieties.

Lane’s removal led to very public disagreements between board members, with one calling the process “immature and unbecoming.” Three regents would ultimately resign in the aftermath of the controversy, including board chair Hasan Mack and Derrick Mitchell, who in March said he’d “rather be on a board where there’s more logic and just a sense of decency.”

A month earlier, Mitchell was the lone vote against terminating Lane for cause over his failure to report the alleged fraud at the Thurgood Marshall School of Law. Lane, who has repeatedly denied any misconduct and called the investigation a “witch hunt,” eventually settled with the board, which agreed to finding no wrongdoing and buying out his contract for $879,000.

Throughout the ordeal, sides developed, and supporters and opponents dug in, with allegations of corruption and abuse of power traded freely. Even the leak of the report’s findings to the media was curiously timed before the May 29 vote appointing Lane as the new chancellor of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.

It may take awhile for that animosity to dissipate, but we urge all involved to settle their differences and focus on what motivates all parties: the success of Texas Southern and its student body.

The board was clumsy in its handling of Lane’s departure, but members said they are committed to transparency and to implementing the recommendations in the report as a starting point for reform. These include best practices for admissions criteria, scholarship programs, and more data to analyze and improve graduation rates.

All are necessary measures to build back trust and allow TSU to continue to provide underserved communities with a quality education.