FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 28, 2024

tsumemphisshelbycounty@gmail.com

2809 Kirby Parkway; Suite 116-249

Memphis, TN 38119

Today, the Tennessee legislature voted to adopt the Senate version of HB1739/SB1596, which
resulted in vacating the Tennessee State University Board of Trustees. The governor has signed
this bill. This action is unprecedented and unfortunate as it relates to any public institution in the
state of Tennessee.
While taking this action, Tennessee lawmakers have made limited, if any, mention of the
chronic underfunding that Tennessee State University (TSU) has experienced at the hands of the
state of Tennessee. State officials confirm $544 million in underfunding over the past 30 years.
U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack on
September 18, 2023, sent letters to 16 governors emphasizing the over $12 billion disparity in
funding between land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and their non-
HBCU land-grant peers in their states. Characteristically, the state of Tennessee was identified as
having underfunded its 1890 Land Grant Institution by the most money, $2.1 billion, when
compared to the 1862 Land Grant Institution, the University of Tennessee.
It does not go unnoticed by the Tennessee State University National Alumni Association
(TSUNAA) Memphis/Shelby County Chapter that action by this session of the state of Tennessee
legislature coincides with efforts by TSU and her constituents to get the Tennessee legislature to
address underfunding of TSU that has occurred over generations.
Funding due TSU is not an ask or an appeal. It is funding as decreed by federal law. For every
federal dollar provisioned by the federal government, the state in which the land grant
institution is located is to be matched by state funding.
TSU would undoubtedly be in a different position if, over the years, the state had adhered to
federal law. In comparison, the state’s only other Morrill Land Grant institution, the University of
Tennessee, has received funding more than the required dollar for dollar federal match required
of the state. We do not begrudge UT the funding it received; however, we do ask that you
compare its fiscal plant, programs, and reach, to those of TSU to better understand how
disparate treatment impacts results.
We are apprised of the names of the members of the newly appointed board. We look forward
to working with them to continue a 112 Year Legacy of Greatness that is Tennessee State
University.