Douglas Ousted from Texas Southern Presidency

Black Issues in Higher Education, Feb 18, 1999

HOUSTON -- Texas Southern University's board of regents, in a Feb. 5th meeting, dismissed James M. Douglas as president of the historically Black university. The regents voted to oust Douglas only seven months after they extended his contract for two years.

Dr. Priscilla Dean Slade, who was dean of the Texas Southern business school, was appointed acting president.

"The board did not feel that [Douglas'] progress at the school was moving fast enough. We felt that a bold move was needed to move the university forward," said Willard L. Jackson, the board's chair, in a news release.

Five of the six attending regents voted for the dismissal, a move that reportedly came as a surprise to Douglas. In addition to the ouster, the regents placed Douglas on leave without pay from university employment. They also stipulated that in the fall, he may return to the Texas Southern law school where he was a tenured professor.

Dissenting regent Enos M. Cabell said that he wanted "the record to show that I was totally blind-sided and do not agree with this move."

Three regents were not present at the Feb. 5 meeting.