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Friday, March 17, 2006

A Quieter Benjamin Ladner Story…

…has been brewing at Texas Southern University, which has one of the lowest graduation rates in the country, and where officials have known for some time that the president was misappropriating funds. They didn’t know to what extent, however, and they’ve been moving cautiously, as they should.

But with the resignation of the university chief financial officer, who turns out to have been “convicted nine times on misdemeanor charges of writing bad checks” (don’t they check police records before they hire highly placed people at TSU?), and with new revelations of misbehavior, the regents, reports the Houston Chronicle, have acted:



TSU regents placed President Priscilla Slade on paid leave after a nine-hour private meeting Thursday and asked attorneys to expand their investigation of her spending.

Slade is expected to remain on paid leave at least until May 5, the next regularly scheduled Texas Southern University board meeting. In the interim, the Bracewell & Giuliani law firm's investigation that was limited to her spending $85,000 furnishing and $138,159 landscaping her new home is being broadened to other purchases Slade made with university money.

…TSU leaders will also hire a state auditor for a full external look at the school's finances, officials said.

No interim president was named Thursday, but the board appointed a four-member administrative team to sign off on TSU expenditures.

Both Slade and regents refused to comment on the announcements or Thursday's lengthy discussion, which included a preliminary report from Bracewell & Giuliani on how Slade spent school money on furniture, landscaping, audio-visual equipment and a security system for her Memorial Park-area home.

The property, located on a 17,675-square-foot lot on Terrace Drive, was worth $424,000 last year when it was just a vacant lot, according to tax records.

Slade repaid the landscaping bill after regents questioned the expense. She has said the university mistakenly paid the bill without her knowledge. (Would that have been when the bad check writer was CFO?)

Credit card statements released last month showed Slade spent $94,000 on meals, hotel rooms, event tickets and other entertainment-related expenses last year — nearly double the amount allowed by her employment contract.

In her seventh year as TSU president, Slade earns a base salary of $250,000 a year. She also received a $14,400 a year car allowance and $48,000 a year for housing expenses.

…Several regents have already been called in for questioning by the Harris County District Attorney's Office, which is conducting a criminal investigation that could take months.

…"That money could have been used to develop students better," [one student] said. "This administration has its priorities in the wrong places. This administration has its priorities in landscaping and furniture."