Austin A. Lane, the president of Texas Southern University in Houston was placed on administrative leave with pay.
A statement released by the university stated that, “the board is committed to ensuring all activities at the university are conducted in an ethical and transparent manner in accordance with the university’s mission, vision and values. The university will have no further comment at this time.”
Dr. Lane told a local television station that he was not invited to the meeting where he was put on leave and hadn’t been advised that he had done anything wrong.
“I haven’t done anything and haven’t been informed of being placed on administrative leave by the board on their 5-4 vote split down the middle,” Dr. Lane told KPRC 2. “I expect to be reinstated immediately or paid out for the remainder of my contract for breach of contract.”
Dr. Lane was named president of Texas Southern University in 2016. Earlier, he was executive vice chancellor of Lone Star College System based in The Woodlands, Texas. From 2009 to 2015, Dr. Lane was president of the Montgomery campus of Lone Star College.
Dr. Austin went to Odessa Junior College in Texas on a basketball scholarship. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Langston University in Oklahoma. Dr. Austin holds a master’s degree in human relations from the University of Oklahoma and a doctorate in higher education administration from the University of Alabama.
The board appointed Kenneth Huewitt as the interim president of Texas Southern University. He has been serving as chief financial officer at the university.
