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Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                        Robyn Morrow             Chris Elliott                        
                                               John Arterbury       Caitlin Cuppernull

Change of guard may help improve TSU's woes

Administrators and officials at Texas Southern University just can't get things right, and now they have to pay the price. On Friday, Gov. Rick Perry asked the troubled university's regents to resign in favor of appointing a single conservator to make the needed changes to improve TSU's dire financial situation, the Houston Chronicle reported.

By making this move, Perry acknowledges that the situation at TSU needs to be handled and fast. The regents weren't getting the job done, and now it's time to step aside.

Although Perry hasn't announced the conservator's identity, campus leaders have heard that Kerney Laday, a TXU Corp. board member and retired Xerox Corp. executive may fill the position. Laday would be in charge of spending and would have the ability to fire employees, hire new ones and change the administrative structure, the Chronicle reported. Although the conservator would likely only work for one year, such a change could drastically improve TSU's current situation.

Some lawmakers, including state Rep. Garnet Coleman and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee, have come out against appointing a conservator. Jackson-Lee told the Chronicle that "conservatorship would be a death knell instead of a solution."

However, bringing in an outsider with a new view on this situation is just what TSU needs. Starting from scratch with someone who can assess the problem from a non-biased viewpoint is something that can and will improve the school's financial blunders.

The TSU advisory committee told Perry that alumni, students and lawmakers have lost confidence in its regents. Perry gave the regents months to fix TSU's problems, yet there's still no solution. Perry, doing what a leader should do, has taken control of the situation and found a solution that will help the school. Allow him to do his job.