HOUSTON (AP) – Texas Southern University regents voted Monday to fire school president Priscilla Slade after a two-month investigation into her spending habits, officials said.
Slade, 54, spent seven years as president of the state’s largest historically black university. Her contract guarantees her the right to schedule a public hearing within a month before the firing becomes official, the Houston Chronicle reported in its online edition Monday night. Her attorney told the newspaper that Slade plans to request one.
University officials began investigating Slade after questions arose about her use of university funds to furnish and landscape her new home. An internal audit found that Slade spent nearly $650,000 during her tenure on expenses not allowed under her contract.
Slade and her attorneys said the spending was necessary to promote the university and secure nearly $40 million in donations.
University regents originally planned to meet May 5 to decide Slade’s fate, but they convened earlier after she began speaking out publicly about the case against their wishes.
Slade gave interviews emphasizing her role in helping the school, where enrollment has nearly doubled to 11,600 students since she took over in 1999.