Kentucky State University president suddenly resigns as audit begins, lawsuits continue
Kentucky State University’s president, M. Christopher Brown II, abruptly resigned on Tuesday.
Brown’s resignation after four years on the job comes amid growing concerns about KSU’s financial health and a half-dozen lawsuits pending this year accusing college officials, including Brown, of various acts of misconduct.
At a specially called meeting, the KSU Board of Regents accepted Brown’s resignation, canceling the remainder of his employment contract. It named Clara Ross Stamps as the school’s acting president. Stamps, with a background in marketing, has been a senior vice president and spokeswoman at KSU.
Speaking to reporters after the board meeting, Stamps declined to comment on KSU’s financial condition or the reasons for Brown’s departure.
“At this time it would be inappropriate and premature for me to discuss any status of the university because I have not had — this is new for me just like it is new for you. I have not had an opportunity to assess the situation,” Stamps said.
“We wish Dr. Brown well on his future endeavors,” Stamps added.
Brown was president of Alcorn State University, an historically Black college in Mississippi, until he resigned in 2014 amid a state investigation into school purchasing, including roughly $89,000 in improvements made to the president’s residence without the legally required bids. KSU hired him in 2017.
Also on Tuesday, KSU announced the hiring of a new chief financial officer, Greg Rush, to replace the previous CFO, Douglas Allen, who resigned last month following a four-year stint. Rush had been a senior fellow at the Kentucky Council for Postsecondary Education.
The CPE, which provides direction and oversight to the state’s universities, will play a key role in helping KSU through its difficulties, Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters on Tuesday.
“Certainly, in the last several weeks, we’ve heard significant concerns from regents that are charged with the ultimate oversight of that university,” Beshear said at a Shelbyville news conference.
“What’s most important is that we have a strong, solvent Kentucky State University to serve the students of that region and all over Kentucky,” Beshear said. “We are going to work to make sure that happens.”
The CPE issued a statement Tuesday offering its assistance to KSU in the days ahead.
“KSU is vitally important to our higher education landscape as our state’s only public historically Black university, and as such, we are committed to its unequivocal success,” the CPE said. “While we’ve been monitoring recent developments, our next step is to gather necessary information so we can provide as much assistance as possible.”
CPE President Aaron Thompson, who served for a year as interim president at KSU before Brown was hired in 2017, said he suspects the school faces a cash flow problem. But he won’t know for certain until more research is done over the next few weeks, Thompson said.
“There is reason to think there is a financial issue,” Thompson told the Herald-Leader in an interview. “Now, at what level the financial issue is, I don’t know. But yes, we believe there is a financial issue.”
The Kentucky General Assembly has expressed displeasure in the past with KSU’s continued fiscal problems and administrative turmoil, Thompson acknowledged.
“Anything that I do with KSU moving forward, I will keep the governor’s office and the legislature totally in the loop no matter what the case is,” Thompson said. “Yes, in the past, they have asked the questions, I will say, and they have shown concerns. The last time that happened, in 2016, that’s when I went over there as president. And when I left, they had a balanced budget and a better-paying system, and we were paying our debts.”
KSU board chairwoman Elaine Farris told the other regents on Tuesday that the school neglected to start its legally required audit for this year, to get an accurate look at its financial condition, and so it is unlikely to submit an audit report to the state Finance and Administration Cabinet by the October deadline.
The board has instructed accounting firm Crowe Horwarth LLP to begin an audit immediately, Farris said.
“We haven’t started any of the fieldwork yet,” Farris said. “Our first priority is to allow us to get back on track.”
KSU’s budget this fiscal year is $49.9 million. Of that, $27.1 million comes from the state’s General Fund and $16.3 million comes from tuition and student fees.
The legislature last year authorized a $55.5 million bond to build a 400-bed dormitory and dining hall on the KSU campus using private financing. The construction will be KSU’s first so-called “P3” project, or public-private partnership. CRM Companies of Lexington will operate and maintain the property through an entity called KSU Campus Housing LLC. KSU will finance it through a 35-year lease.
Staff writer Jack Brammer contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 20, 2021 at 10:39 AM.
