From the minute that the Texas State University for Negroes was established as a Jim Crow institution to prevent the desegregation of the state's white colleges and universities, it has been a failure. It took only a few years for the United States Supreme Court to declare it was a sub-standard institution that was unequal by any measure. Through decades of scandal and mismanagement at Texas Southern University, however, the black community has embraced this remnant of Jim Crow, a shining example of the inherent inequality of "separate but equal", which is little more than a four year community college with a graduate program and a law school.

The governor and legislature are looking for a fix for the school -- something I believe to be impossible, given the track record of "fixes" over the last decade. TSU is simply unable to stand as an independent institution.

But that does not keep certain black leaders from insisting that it must.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee vowed Saturday to stop Gov. Rick Perry's attempt to place Texas Southern University under conservatorship in the wake of the latest financial problems at the 11,000-student institution.

Jackson Lee said she wants the U.S. Department of Education to intervene, alleging that conservatorship would be a strict violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, imposing "undue burdens on black students."

The governor announced plans April 13 to appoint a conservator to control spending.

The individual selected would also have the ability to fire and hire any employee, and to change the administrative structure at the nation's second-largest historically black university.

Conservatorship has never occurred at any Texas university or college.

Sylvia Brooks, president of the Houston Area Urban League, said state funding to compensate for the university's "decades of neglect" and a "great board" would be able to solve the current financial problems.

But the problem is that TSU has had a "great board" in the past, made up of respected alumni and state African-American leaders. The last time a great president was brought in to make sure that the university was well-managed, she ripped off TSU so bad that she and a number of aides were indicted for their actions.

And then there is this propaganda piece.

Texas Southern continues its proud tradition of welcoming students the Texas public schools have failed. And while these nontraditional students tend not to graduate within the traditional four or even six years, there is a strong indication they eventually do graduate, have increased earning capacity and contribute largely to the Texas economy.

Texas Southern University is often compared with Prairie View A&M. Both are historically black universities. Prairie View's success is often attributed to being part of the Texas A&M system. Largely overlooked, Prairie View is not an open admissions university; it has specific academic criteria for the admission of students that closes its doors to the Cliffords and Thomases and Bettys.

TSU has always been here for Texas. We must ensure that it remains a viable institution so that it will continue to be.

And therein lies the biggest problem with TSU -- it has NO STANDARDS for admission! And while that may have been a great thing in the days before the state of Texas had a large system of community colleges, it does not make sense today and cannot be defended. the former president of TSU and local community leader who wrote this piece cannot even be troubled to cite statistics on graduation rates becauee they know TSU is a failure in that regard, too.

Community pride and an indefensible mission are not reason to keep the school open as an independent institution. And the difficulties TSU has had for decades places "undue burdens on black students" every bit as much as the conservatorship plan does.

There exist three options for dealing with TSU if conservatorship is not an option.

1) Close TSU. It is a failed experiment in racial segregation and standardless academics that wastes the money of the people of Texas. Or in the alternative, divest the state of TSU and let it become a private school that supports itself without the flood of public money that is going down a rathole.

2) Do nothing. Just continue to send the money down the rathole.

3) Merge TSU into the University of Houston system. Given that TSU is only a few blocks away from the main campus of the University of Houston, it seems to me that this is a viable Now this could take two forms -- either full incorporation of TSU into UH, or maintaining TSU as a separate institution that continues to operate with its own lax academic standards. While I view the latter possibility as less desirable, it at least has the advantage of providing much stronger oversight for the school, providing it the strength of leadership the school so desperately needs.

TSU is a mess. Will black leaders actually lead in fixing the problem, or will they obstruct any possible solution because the school is a "black thing" -- despite the fact that its budget comes out of the pockets of every taxpayer in the state of Texas. Will they allow TSU to become the sort of institution it ought to be in the twenty-first century -- or insist that it remain what it has been, a sub-standard Jim Crow institution?

Posted by: Greg at 02:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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