Tell-It Report: How Tennessee State Went From Near Financial Collapse to a $13.2 Million Surplus in a Year
The HBCU, plagued by a pattern of financial mismanagement and underfunding, has transformed its operations under President Dwayne Tucker, according to reports.
In Gullah Geechee communities, a “tell-it” was a designated lookout, community warning system and the most trusted source for news and information. The Tell-It Report is ContrabandCamp’s weekly roundup of the Black stories that deserve more attention — from politics to entertainment.
Tennessee State University’s new president has turned the school’s financial situation around, transforming a deficit that put the university on the verge of collapse into a $13.2 million surplus, according to a report.
After a CBS Chicago investigation found that police officers were wrongfully arresting and charging Black gun owners with valid conceal-carry permits, advocates are demanding accountability.
The Department of Justice is using a fraud law to investigate major companies, including Google and Verizon, for their use of DEI practices.
Read the full stories below:
TSU president’s yearlong transformation of the nearly shuttered school leads to a $13.2 million surplus
Tennessee State University’s fate looked a lot different this time last year.
The historically Black university was facing mounting debt heavy enough to collapse the school. TSU President Dwayne Tucker turned around the university’s financial standing in a year, creating a $13.2 million surplus, News Channel 5 Nashville reports.
Tucker is a career businessman who has improved the financial performance of several Fortune 500 companies. With his first year as TSU president under his belt, Tucker told the local outlet that it’s just the beginning of the university’s “transformational change.”
In December 2024, TSU discovered it was running out of money. University officials released an FAQ about the financial crisis, noting that the university’s expenses exceeded revenue over the past several years and that overspending accelerated in fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Additionally, TSU didn’t meet its enrollment targets for the 2024-2025 academic year. The school was also facing a campus housing shortage, leading many students to begin the school year in hotels and a nearby church.
TSU informed lawmakers that the state would need to pay the school’s $58 million deficit to keep it open.
Under Tucker, the university took action, reports News Channel 5. It removed ads from the airport, cut band trips and ended the football team’s hotel stays before home games. The school also implemented layoffs, scholarship cuts and raised tuition by 6%.
In June, TSU signed an operating agreement with the state that allows the school to redirect unused capital funds for operating expenses. This move provided “crucial cash flow to ensure the university’s financial sustainability” and allowed it “to invest in enriching the student experience and strengthening our capacity to attract both students and qualified employees,” Tucker said in a statement, according to Tennessee Lookout. As part of the deal, the state acknowledged it had underfunded the school by more than half a billion dollars over the past decades, according to News Channel 5.
“[I]t’s amazing how things work when you just tell people the truth and be transparent about what the challenges are at the university,” Tucker told News Channel 5.
The university also made key leadership hires, assembled a new Board of Trustees and re-established trust with state leaders after a pattern of mismanagement.
The president told News Channel 5 that he plans to continue modernizing the campus and increasing alumni donations.
“What we really want to do is have that money come straight to the university so that it helps raise alumni giving rate and then could allow other donors to give more because they see alumni donating,” Tucker said.
After Chicago police were caught wrongfully arresting Black gun owners, advocates demand action
After an investigation found that Chicago police were wrongfully arresting licensed Black gun owners on firearms charges, advocacy groups are demanding justice for Black gun owners whose rights were violated.
According to CBS News Chicago, the city’s police have a pattern of charging Black gun owners with felonies even though they have valid firearm-owner identification and concealed carry licenses. The outlet’s investigation also found that some officers made these arrests for personal and professional gain.
“I played by the book. I did things the right way,” resident Louis McWilliams told CBS. McWilliams took a class and obtained his concealed carry license. During a routine traffic stop, he informed officers that he had a 9mm pistol and showed his license. When they couldn’t find his information in their system, they arrested him and charged him with two felonies.
Although his charges were dropped after his information was found to be valid, McWilliams spent months in and out of court.
“No matter how much you follow a system of which they create, they can still deem you wrong,” he said.
Since 2020, on the heels of the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and increased racial tensions, Black gun ownership has steadily been on the rise, the Washington Post reports. However, the Second Amendment rights that many American firearm enthusiasts tout end up getting violated when Black people carry.
Illinois State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth has proposed a bill that would automatically expunge the records of those wrongfully charged with felonies when their cases are dismissed. This would eliminate the additional step of paying a lawyer to do it.
“We’re now talking about individuals that didn’t make a mistake. A mistake was thrust upon them,” Gordon-Booth told CBS. “That, to me, is a completely different set of facts and circumstances that has to be addressed.”
Phil Smith, president of the National African American Gun Association, told CBS that he advises Black gun owners wrongfully arrested to sue.
“File a lawsuit and follow through on the lawsuit,” Smith said. “If a police chief has four or five lawsuits, $4 or $5 million with different law enforcement officers, they’re going to get a call from somebody to say, ‘Hey, start treating those people differently.’”
Trump administration is using a Civil War-era law to investigate major companies for using DEI
The Trump administration is using a 162-year-old fraud law to investigate major companies for using diversity initiatives to hire and promote employees, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Google and Verizon are among those companies the government demanded documentation regarding their workforce programs, Reuters reports. Both companies eliminated their diversity, equity and inclusion programs in 2025, months after President Donald Trump signed executive orders targeting those initiatives.
The DOJ now claims that the companies it’s investigating defrauded the government by using federal funds to support “illegal” diversity quotas or by fabricating proof of compliance with Trump’s anti-DEI executive order. The Justice Department is using the False Claims Act, a 162-year-old federal law originally designed to combat fraud during the Civil War, to go after the contractors.
According to USA Today, the DOJ began issuing civil investigation demands to employers in October. The department previously used the False Claims Act to go after universities and colleges that considered race in their admission policies.
“The administration is clearly signaling that DEI is no longer just a cultural debate, but a financial and legal liability,” according to an industry consultant who spoke with Black Enterprise. “By framing these initiatives as potential fraud against the taxpayer, they are putting every major federal contractor on notice.”
The DOJ is also urging whistleblowers to file DEI lawsuits on the government’s behalf, according to USA Today. In 2025, the department took almost $3 billion in False Claims Act settlements and judgments.
ICYMI
Actor Isiah Whitlock Jr., known for The Wire, Veep and several Spike Lee joints, has died at 71.
Grammy-nominated gospel artist Richard Smallwood has died at 77.
Mary Sheffield has been sworn in as the first Black female mayor of Detroit.
Alicia Johnson will be the first Black woman elected to Georgia’s Public Service Commission and one of the first Democrats to win statewide office in 19 years.
The University of California, Davis is now designated as a Black-serving institution.
Renee Hardman has won a year-end special election, making her the first Black woman elected to the Iowa State Senate.
Will Smith is facing a lawsuit from violinist Brian King Joseph, who accused Smith of sexual harassment and wrongful termination.
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Dwayne Tucker is amazing. When you know and understand program management, you understand it is a tools set where you can be creative in tackling problems. He is a phenomenal and this good news is sorely needed! Congrats to Tennessee State!