Rattlers should keep an eye on what's happening at Tn State U.

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FAMUans should be paying close attention to the latest headlines coming out of Nashville, TN, and how the state of Tennessee is dealing with Tennessee State University (TSU).  TSU, like FAMU, is that state’s only public historically Black University.  
 
Like FAMU, Tennessee State is an 1890 land grant university. 
 
In April 2021, a report by the Tennessee Legislature determined that the state of Tennessee short changed Tennessee State University, between $151 million and $544 million in land-grant funding. 

The analysis found that the Tennessee failed to pay the state land-grant match to TSU from 1957 and 2007. The University of Tennessee, however, consistently received its full match.

Last March, a Forbes Magazine study determined that since 1987 the State of Tennessee had underfunded TSU by $1.917 billion (adjusted for inflation).  That same study suggested that the State of Florida had underfunded FAMU by $1.93 billion (also adjusted for inflation).
 
In April 2022, the Tennessee Legislature, and its Governor, decided to make amends by awarding TSU a one-time lump sum payment of $250 million to improve the university’s infrastructure, perhaps stave off a lawsuit for discrimination. 

No new dorms in nearly 40 years, no new classrooms in 25 years
This past fall TSU opened its first new campus residence hall in more than 37 years, and in 2021 opened its first new state-funded classroom building in more than 25 years.
 
Auditor raises questions about TSU's finances

Less than 10 months after the state of Tennessee ponies up $250 million, the State Comptroller releases a “scathing report” claiming that TSU has repeatedly fallen short when it comes to managing its finances and floats the idea that new leadership (someone they can control) might be necessary.

Coincidence? 
Hardly, TSU’s president is a certified public accountant, an attorney, and is one of only two African American women in the country to hold the Ph.D.-CPA-JD combination.  She has close ties to Vice President Kamala Harris and the Biden administration. The suggestion that TSU's president doesn't know how to handle the school's finances is preposterous. 

We are keenly aware that historically when white folks want to go after Black public officials, or Black institutions, they typically attack us form a financial mismanagement prospective using a tired old familiar narrative that we can’t handle money. 

Now, there are varying reports out of Tennessee that this morning the Tennessee State Legislature will meet this morning to vote on a proposal to place TSU under the auspices of the Tennessee Board of Regents, a body that currently oversees the state 13 two-year colleges.

Tennessee State, like FAMU and the majority of HBCUs, is located in a southern state controlled by a Republican governor and Republican Legislature.