Governor Bill Lee appointed eight new members to the Tennessee State University (TSU) board of trustees on Thursday moments after signing legislation to vacate and reconstitute the entire board.
After signing SB 1596, which passed the Tennessee Senate earlier in the day, Lee appointed the following eight individuals to the new TSU board:
- Trevia Chatman, President, Bank of America Memphis
- Jeffery Norfleet, Provost and Vice President for Administration, Shorter College
- Marquita Qualls, Founder and Principal, Entropia Consulting
- Terica Smith, Deputy Mayor and Director of Human Resources, Madison County
- Charles Traughber, General Counsel, Division of Real Estate, Retail, and Financial Services at Bridgestone Americas
- Dwayne Tucker, CEO of LEAD Public Schools
- Kevin Williams, President and CEO of GAA Manufacturing
- Dakasha Winton, Senior Vice President and Chief Government Relations Officer at BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee
All eight appointees are alumni of TSU.
“Tennessee State University is a remarkable institution and my administration, in partnership with the General Assembly, is committed to ensuring students are being served,” Lee said in a statement. “I’m pleased to appoint these highly qualified individuals who will work alongside administrators and students to further secure TSU’s place as a leading institution.”
The governor’s actions regarding the TSU board came hours after the Tennessee Comptroller’s Office released a new forensic audit of the university revealing “continued management shortcomings” among the institution.
“A new forensic audit of Tennessee State University includes 57 observations and 60 recommendations related to how TSU handles a variety of core responsibilities including budget monitoring, collecting tuition, awarding scholarships, and many more,” the Comptroller’s Office said in a press release on Thursday.
Thursday’s forensic audit of the university is in addition to two other previously released audit reports which contain findings related to the university.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Gov Bill Lee” by Gov Bill Lee and “Tennessee State University” is by Tennessee State University.
