Filling Priscilla Slade's Shoes

Why is it taking so long to find a replacement for disgraced ousted president, Priscilla Slade? Is is worth risking accreditation?

The board is under pressure to move quickly to the fill the position, which has been vacant since the firing of Slade in June 2006 amid a spending scandal. A hung jury recently spared Slade of a criminal conviction on charges related to her use of school money for personal expenses, but her former chief financial officer, Quintin Wiggins, received a 10-year jail sentence for his role in the scandal.

TSU is at risk of losing accreditation if campus leaders do not rectify a series of financial and management issues within a year. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools placed the state's largest historically black university on probation last week because of the school's poor financial picture.

"I would hope that a decision be made and a new president on campus by the beginning of next semester," said state Rep. Garnet Coleman, a Houston Democrat whose district includes the 9,500-student campus. "If not, it's a big problem."

The university needs a good leader in order to rectify its' problems. One would think the 'politicking' would stop in order to get down to business.