TSU regents censure member
Price is removed as secretary after profane comments
The Texas Southern University board of regents censured member Ron Price and removed him from his position as secretary Tuesday after hearing disparaging comments he made during an expletive-filled recorded conversation with a TSU alumna.
During a special-called phone meeting Tuesday, board counsel Sharesa Y. Alexander read the board’s resolution stating that Price made “derogatory, racist and threatening statements referring to the actions of other regents” and violated the board’s code of ethics on the recorded call.
The move comes after an April 16 call Price had with TSU alumna Victoria Gray. During a virtual board meeting that day, Gray requested that all board members involved in the ousting of former president Austin Lane step down. She recorded the call with Price, capturing a conversation that ran for more than an hour, and later shared it with members of a closed social media group of TSU alumni.
In the profanity-laced call that included a racial epithet, Price told Gray that current board of regents did not have the best interests of the university at heart and that they had been gunning to fire Lane since November. Price, a TSU alum himself, said he tried to put a stop to it.
“I kept telling (former regent Derrick Mitchell), ‘Man, I don’t know these people on the board. I don’t trust them. They talk too
damn much. And the stuff they’re focusing on is not helping the babies,’” Price said, referring to TSU students.
Price also revealed his soured relationship with former board chair Hasan Mack, who he alleged had a personal vendetta against Lane and purposely left Price out of crucial board meetings, including the one in which regents voted for Lane’s termination.
“If (Hasan Mack) was by himself and had a flat tire in the middle of West Texas, I would ride right past his ass,” Price said. “What he did to Lane … I have no respect for that guy. None.”
Gray said she was taken aback by Price’s foul language and his rude and unprofessional demeanor on the call.
“This is my first time talking to this man,” said Gray. “He is not an example of excellence in achievement. How can this man represent a board that oversees a university?”
Price and Mack did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Tuesday, Alexander, the TSU board attorney, said Price lacked knowledge about the roles and duties of a regent and that the recording has ultimately caused a negative impact on the regents, the university and alumni. As a result, Price, who still maintains his seat on the board, has been removed from membership of all board committees, Alexander said.
All five regents present motioned the resolution.
“Thank you, everybody, for being a part of this call today. It’s unfortunate that we had to address an issue like this amidst moving the university forward like we plan to do,” board chair Albert Myres Sr. said.
In an apologetic letter to the TSU community Monday night after the recording was released to the public via Facebook, Price, who was not present on the Tuesday call, announced his decision to step down as the board’s secretary.
“Some of the words I chose during my conversation were inappropriate and spoken out of emotion during an unguarded moment. I sincerely apologize to my fellow board members, to TSU administrators, faculty, staff, students, alumni and the entire TSU family for any embarrassment that has resulted,” Price wrote.
He added that it has been a “great privilege and honor to serve as board secretary, and to serve alongside dedicated colleagues whom I respect and admire.”
But Price’s recorded comments to Gray, the alumna and a former university employee, say otherwise. His comments indicate deep rifts, personal vendettas and mistrust within the TSU board — some of which resulted from disagreements in the ousting of Lane.
Gray said when she listened back to the recording, she again suggested that Price resign but he refused.
The alumna then posted the recording in the private #RemovetheRegents Facebook group and then released it to the public Monday. The group intends to release a full transcript of her conversation with Price on Wednesday, she said.
“We want the community and alumni, politicians and everybody to listen and read the entire transcript and to decide for themselves if this is a person (who) should be a representative of our university,” Gray said. “They just need to listen.”
Price has been a controversial and vocal character on TSU’s board. In the past, he complained about treatment of his colleagues after they received back-row seats to the Democratic presidential debate held at TSU last fall and when board members were dropped off a block away from their location during the college’s homecoming.
In February, the board accused Lane of failing to notify it and the university auditor about the problems in the admissions office and voted for his termination, which resulted in a buyout that totaled at least $879,000, according to Lane, with no wrongdoing on Lane’s part.
Price, CEO of a research and technology group, is the fourth TSU regent to step down in full or part this year. Six regents, including Price, remain, but Gray insists it’s time for them to “move on out the way.”
Price, however, who was appointed to the board in February 2019 for a term through February 2023, said he’s there to stay.
“I bring too much value,” Price told Gray in the recording, alleging that he introduced Lane to his billionaire friends and that he played an instrumental role in bringing the Democratic presidential debate to TSU in the fall. Price also boasted ambitious plans for programs and to increase TSU’s enrollment to 60,000. TSU’s enrollment for fall 2019 was 9,034, according to the TSU website.
“All I ask is the board of regents to treat people fairly . ... My job is to ask what do (sic) the university need and let me bust my ass to see if I can make it happen,” Price said.