Last month, Austin A. Lane, the president of Texas Southern University in Houston was placed on administrative leave with pay. Now the university has terminated his contract. The board of regents alleges that President Lane knew of irregularities in the admission process at the university’s law school and did nothing about it. They also alleged that he had excessive entertainment expenses that were paid through the university’s foundation and not through usual channels.
In a letter to President Lane, the board stated that “a consequence of your actions, and in particular the dishonesty, misrepresentation, material omission, and intentional concealment aspects of your conduct, is injury to the trust placed in you by the Board to manage and lead the university on a day to day basis.”
Dr. Lane has 30 days to answer the allegations and seek reinstatement. He said that he would so do.
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. Lane 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.
