Texas Southern Is Accused of Mishandling Endowments

Texas Southern University, in Houston, has mismanaged its endowments, according to a State Auditor’s Office report, according to the Associated Press. The report said the university spent the principal on its endowments’ investments, which it should have kept intact, and criticized the university’s investment practices, its record keeping, its monitoring of whether donors’ wishes were honored, and its distribution of endowments.

The university had 78 endowments totaling $23-million at the end of February, most of which were established to award scholarships and pay for professors. The report said the university spent at least $285,934 from the principal of eight of these endowments, but said exact amounts “cannot be determined because of the university’s poor record keeping.” The university has agreed to take the auditor’s recommended steps to remedy the problems cited in the report.