TSU must fix its finances, but the state needs to pay back billions owed to this HBCU

Good morning!

Tennessee State University, like most Historically Black Colleges and Universities, has money issues. And it has had them for a long time.

In 2019, when a storm triggered months of power outages (and students launched a petition to demand tuition reimbursement), TSU officials placed part of the blame on deferred maintenance and an aging electrical grid.

In a recent column , I noted that, even decades before the power outages, TSU’s world renowned Tigerbelles were forced to run on a dilapidated track — when they had a track.

There are countless other stories, before and after and in-between, revealing a university that had gotten used to trying to do a lot with a little. This is the story of many Black institutions, if not the Black community itself.

But it shouldn’t be that way.

Right now, Dr. Ronald A. Johnson, TSU’s interim president, is working to clean up the school’s books. TSU’s fiduciary responsibility has been under scrutiny for some time, with a revelation of missteps leading Gov. Bill Lee to vacate the entire TSU board.

Before his current stint at TSU, Johnson was hired for an even more significant turnaround at HBCU Kentucky State University, so he knows this work well. He’ll choose the hard means that will push the university toward its desired end  — even when that means job cuts and spending freezes.

There are people who will be negatively impacted by these sacrifices, but I do believe this work is necessary. That said, it should not replace TSU’s efforts to recover the more than $2 billion it’s been shorted by the state of Tennessee.

I wrote about that in my column this past Wednesday .

What else should you read this week?

• In another column I wrote that published Friday, I take a look at the WNBA’s Faustian bargain and the real “Caitlin Clark effect.” The league certainly got the attention and viewership it’s long wanted, but in refusing to denounce Clark’s racist fans early in the season — when abuse against Angel Reese, DiJonai Carrington, and others began —  it may have sold its (welcoming, inclusive) soul.
• Eleven years ago, Yvette Davis-Atkins, a resident of Mt. Juliet, lost her husband Len to colorectal cancer. He was only 49 at the time — a reflection of the fact that colorectal cancer is now the leading cause of death from men under the age of 50 and the second leading cause of death for women in the same age group. For The Tennessean, she wrote about the importance of early detection.
• Despite being a lifelong Republican, John Wood, Jr., a regular columnist for USA TODAY, wrote that he would be casting his vote in the 2024 presidential election for Cornel West : “In the 2024 presidential election, I will cast what in political science terms is referred to as a ‘wasted vote,’ but I do not feel that my vote will be wasted.”

Plus, if you missed the Sept. 17 Black Tennessee Voices Storytellers Live, the video of the show is now published . Watch five storytellers reflect on their journeys to improve the education system for themselves and their community. Thanks to sponsors BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee and host Meharry Medical College.

As always, it’s a pleasure to be in your inbox, and if we haven’t yet connected, I’d love to hear from you!

Until next week…

Andrea Williams is an opinion columnist for The Tennessean and curator of the Black Tennessee Voices initiative. Email her at adwilliams@tennessean.com or follow her on X (formerly known as Twitter) at @AndreaWillWrite .

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSU must fix its finances, but the state needs to pay back billions owed to this HBCU