The Chronicle‘s Matthew Tresaugue continues to keep an eye on the spending scandal at Texas Southern University. Last week, he reported:
While Texas Southern University’s inquiry into the personal expenses of President Priscilla Slade nears an end, local prosecutors are questioning board members about Slade’s use of school money on her private residence.
This week, William E. King became the third TSU regent to meet with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, following board Chairman J. Paul Johnson and George Williams.
Slade, meanwhile, explained her spending for the first time to Bracewell & Giuliani, the law firm conducting the university’s investigation into her expenses.
The concurrent inquiries could determine if Slade keeps the job she has held for seven years or faces criminal charges.
The board of regents may meet as soon as next week to discuss their investigation’s results and decide how to proceed with Slade, while the criminal investigation could take several months.
[snip]
The nine-member board, which is made up of lawyers, executives and religious and financial leaders, curtailed Slade’s spending authority on an unanimous vote last month, pending Bracewell & Giuliani’s investigation.
The regents also suspended Quintin F. Wiggins, the chief financial officer, who is under prosecutors’ scrutiny. Records show Wiggins has been convicted nine times on misdemeanor charges of writing bad checks. The job application he filed with TSU only asked about felony convictions.
In a truly just world, a university president would be dismissed simply for employing a chief financial officer with a record of passing hot checks. But academia is not the real world, so the chief financial officer will probably be reinstated with back pay once the controversy dies down.
