TSU begins fixing issues noted in #TakeBackTSU movement

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Students at Texas Southern University took their #TakeBackTxSU movement from social media to a closed door meeting on campus Monday.

Jerry Ford Jr. was there for part of it. His concern is about how much the campus environment has changed since his freshman year in 2011.

"Every single day you could come through TSU and see the band playing, see the greeks out. It was a historically black college," he says. "One of the saddest parts about what I've seen in my four years here is our face and our culture has been almost erased."

A recent TSU alumnus we spoke with on campus expressed a similar sentiment.

Many students had issues with financial aid.

"Why do I have to wait on my money or get purged out of class if I've done everything I needed to do on my side as a student," says Sydney Hoyle. "We have too many people in financial aid who don't know anything."

"What a lot of it is like nearly 2,000 of our kids had not processed their paperwork. So it was probably an overwhelming situation for the employees who work there. So we're addressing those one by one," TSU Spokesperson Eva Pickens said in response to the widespread complaints about the financial aid department.

Pickens says they've already started working on some of the problems the students expressed on social media.

"The simple stuff about the printing, what's the correct number to call for security, how meal cards are processed -- those things we can rectify right away, we have done those."

But she says some of the issues will take a little time. Housing is one of them. Delays to a new 800-bed dorm that was supposed to open this semester forced the housing department into scramble mode.

Some students are in hotels. Some say they're living out of their car.

Student Government Association President Crystal Owens says students want to make sure they all enjoy the campus they chose to go to.

"One thing we don't want anybody to misinterpret is that we are one TSU. We are one student body and we all stand together. What affects one of us affects all of us," she says.

Next, student leaders and administrators will meet to discuss every concern raised in Monday's meeting. The Board of Regents has instructed the president to have a plan ready by the next board meeting in October.