Kentucky State University will be holding a special meeting to strategize about finances after several accusations and lawsuits. Learn more about what will be address in the article by The State Journal by Austin Horn below.
“Several regents” on the board of Kentucky State University have raised concerns about the state of the school to the governor’s office.
Now, the board of regents just called a meeting for Tuesday morning at 9 a.m., ostensibly to address some of those concerns.
With a closed session scheduled to discuss “pending litigation” and “individual personnel matters,” the board’s agenda lists three potential action items.
Those action items include:
- Approval of legal action or settlements
- Approval of personnel actions
- Approval to engage an external auditor to “review the current financial status” of the university
The first two items are marked under the header “Public Action (if necessary),” coming out of the closed session while the engagement of an external auditor is listed as an action item.
Crystal Staley, spokesperson for Gov. Andy Beshear, confirmed to The State Journal on Saturday that “several” regents have notified the governor’s office about concerns with the state of the school.
“Administration officials have been in contact with regents and the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education to gather more information about the issues they have raised,” Staley said.
WTVQ first reported the concerns raised by regents. The TV station also reported that members of the board were unhappy with the financial status of the university, and that one predicted that KSU President M. Christopher Brown II would resign at Tuesday’s meeting. The State Journal has yet to confirm this with any members of the board.
One anonymous regent pointed out to WTVQ that KSU Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Douglas Allen recently resigned.
Per KSU spokesperson Clara Stamps, Allen submitted his resignation at the end of May, effective June 30. Stamps said that Allen received a “promotion” to another position at a Research II university.
KSU is currently the subject of several lawsuits, some of which allege financial malfeasance or sexual misconduct by administrators.
Brown, who was hired in 2017 in a 7-3 vote by KSU’s Board of Regents, resigned from Alcorn State University in 2014 as state investigators were looking into the school’s purchasing practices.
An Associated Press story from the time details Alcorn State’s spending $89,000 on the president’s house without following state bid law, as well as other expenses auditors were researching. After Alcorn State, Brown held positions at the American Association of State Colleges and Universities and Southern University.
