After a six-month investigation, the shoe finally dropped on former Texas Southern University president Priscilla Slade. A Harris County Grand Judy indicted her yesterday on charges relating to alleged use of up to $1.9 million of school property for her personal benefit. Two other former TSU officials who worked for Slade – Quintin Wiggins and Bruce Wilson – and a current TSU employee — senior safety system engineer Frederick Holts — were also indicted for their roles in the alleged scheme.
This an enormously sad case on numerous fronts, not the least of which is that Slade was the most talented person to serve in the role of TSU president in some time. After a growth spurt under Slade, the chronically-troubled school is again having problems, with enrollment down significantly for the upcoming semester. More on that in a future post.
By the way, did anyone else think that the Chronicle headline on its article covering the Slade indictment — “The former TSU president could face up to life in prison if convicted of misusing funds” — is a tad over-the-top? Although technically true, it’s highly doubtful that Slade, if convicted, would be sentenced to anywhere near that long a prison term. I don’t even think that the Harris County District Attorney’s office would even come close to asking for such a sentence. The Harris County DA’s office is not the Enron Task Force, you know.