Houston School Drops Honor for TV’s Smiley Over Unfulfilled Gift
October 28, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Texas Southern University has dropped television personality Tavis Smiley’s name from its communications school amid a dispute over an as-yet-unfulfilled $1-million pledge, The Houston Chronicle says.
The university honored Mr. Smiley following his 2004 promise to give $200,000 a year for five years to Texas Southern and raise another $1-million. Since then, he has donated $50,000 and collected another $250,000 from corporate donors.
After negotiations over the pledge broke down last month, the university’s president, John Rudley, notified Mr. Smiley in a letter that “TSU plans to treat the partnership as being at an end.” As a result of the dispute, the Houston school has adopted a new naming policy setting minimum donations for such donor honors.
