Eminent Associates Withhold Funds To Tuskegee
The Eminent Associates at Tuskegee University posed for a photograph during their fall meeting on campus, September 9-11, 2016. Photo Credits: From the internet.
Eminent Associates, an elite group of financial contributors to Tuskegee University has withheld funds raised for the university. The group annually makes a sizable donation to the university during the Fall Convocation. However, when the group met last weekend (September 9-11, 2016) on the historic campus of Tuskegee University, they declined to write a check.
This marks the first time in the 50 year history of the Eminent Associates that they have not given a donation to support the programs of the university. According to sources who attended the meeting, Solomon Banks, president of the group pledged to continue to raise money for the school, but intimated the group will not make a donation until the university publishes a financial statement.
The last known financial statement issued by Tuskegee University was in 2011 during an alumni meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
The university is currently on warning notice status with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). At the center of the SACS warning is the school’s financial stability and governance.
Both issues were topics of discussion on a telephone conference call with a group of “concerned Tuskegee Alumni,” Wednesday night, September 14, 2016. The consensus among the telephone conferees is that the Eminent Associates have sent a message to the Tuskegee Board of Trustees that they are not pleased with the slow decline of Tuskegee and are willing to withhold their money until the board replaces President Brian Johnson.
During the Eminent Associates’ meeting, Dr. Elaine Harrington, a long time supporter of President Johnson, questioned Johnson over why several of her checks totaling $4,000 had not been deposited. Also, during this meeting, it was learned that donations, believed to be in the amount of $400,000, made to the university by checks and credit cards last month at the biannual meeting in Las Vegas had not been processed.
Johnson’s explanation is that he does not deposit checks.
However, upon further inspection it was revealed that the reason the checks and credit card donations had not been processed is because the university employees who normally perform that function were given pink slips two weeks ago. There is simply no one presently employed at the university who can process these donations into the university’s bank account.
Meanwhile, Tuskegee’s hefty endowment just got a little lighter. The last time a financial report was available the endowment stood at $130 million. According to our sources, that figure is now down to $110 million.
The Eminent Associates have placed the ball square in the Trustee’s court. Will the Trustees continue to raid the endowment fund, or will they ditch Johnson and join alumni in a massive fund raising plan? We will continue to watch and report.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round; and the host of Beyond the Law with Harold Michael Harvey. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.
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That is embarrassing to hold the funds from the University by a Staff employee. That is not “good business practices” and should be handled immediately. I must say this is not my first encounter with staff not processing checks made payable to Tuskegee University timely. I support Dr. Harrington’s concern because as the Treasurer of TNAA I have been waiting on the verification of the funds that were collected at the Parade of Clubs.
Tuskegee Tuskegee Tuskegee let’s handle our job functions like it is yours personally. I am also a concern eminent associate of Tuskegee University.
It is my understanding that the current problem is not caused by employees not handling the duties of their job, rather it is due to the fact that those responsible for processing donations were fired last month as part of the reduction in force instituted by President Brian Johnson. This raises a question in my mind whether the RIF was well planned. Surely if there is a need to reduce staff, steps must be taken to ensure that essential personnel is available to prosecute the university’s business. As critical as funding is at the university, this problem should not have lasted a full eight-hour shift before the administration had a plan in place to process donations made by alumni to the university. Dr. Johnson’s explanation that he does not deposit checks, although true, is unacceptable. It is his job to manage the day to day operations at the university. He has to fix this immediately. Failure to deposit donations further erodes the confidence of the public in making financial contributions to Tuskegee University. This lapse points out the university’s problem with accountability for the funds received by it. If you are correct and the problem is incompetent staff, then why has Dr. Johnson not taken corrective action. We know for a fact that he is not shy about firing employees. Whatever the problem, it needs to be remedied post haste.
Have the storm clouds already gathered on the horizon.
The Eminent Associates have elected to withhold funds to Tuskegee University. If the administration has not been financially transparent, it’s likely time to shake up senior administrative management and the trustee board. If this trend is on the horizon in future years a decline in major old and new donor support will occur. And, if the issues are cultural and systemic it may take years to fix.
Tuskegee University is led by the president as CEO; the top administrator manages the day-to-day operation, works with the faculty and staff, proposes policy and long-term direction, serve as quasi-fiscal steward, and select, retain and replace the faculty and staff. CEO governance is weak, especially if little regulatory authority exists which make discussions unwieldy and provocative, opening claims of a failure to be transparent Have the storm clouds already gathered on the horizon.. CEO’s can be a management nightmare.
To protect the integrity of governance at an institution, Accrediting Agencies and the U.S. Department of Education look at how campus communities interact and whether these relationships foster fair, respectful treatment and balanced governance, see the SACS Tuskegee University’s Warning Report, as well as the Federal Student Aid, Heightened Cash Monitoring Report. Again, have the storm clouds already gathered on the horizon.
The storm clouds may very well have gathered on the horizon and it does not yet appear that the storm is close to passing over.
Continue to keep the pressure on until this situation is fixed so that this prestigious university will not be destroyed.
Mr. Holman, thank you for your encouragement. There is much at stake. Tuskegee alumni tend to think that Tuskegee University belongs to them alone, when in fact, this prestigious university belongs to our entire community. We all have a stake in its continued survival.