07:14 PM CDT on Friday, May 19, 2006

By Wendell Edwards / 11 News

Raw scene: Cops raid Priscilla Slade's house | Wendell Edward's 11 News at 5 report

Friday, the Harris County District Attorney said a grand jury has begun an investigation into Texas Southern University’s president.

KHOU

Seven uniformed officers entered Slade's home to search for evidence.

The D.A.’s office raided Priscilla Slade’s million dollar home in the 200 block of Terrace in the Memorial area.

Slade is accused of using about $600,000 of university money for personal items.

Authorities arrived at the Memorial-area home around 7 a.m. Friday, but weren’t able to get into the house until around 9 a.m.

The district attorney was searching for evidence that could help build a case.

It wasn’t until one of Slade’s attorneys, Mike DeGeurin, arrived that investigators with the district attorney’s office were granted access inside the home with a search warrant.

“It’s a routine district attorney search warrant to take pictures of and document the furniture, the security system that TSU put in the president’s house and any documents relating to the landscaping,” DeGeurin said.

Dr. Slade was inside her home while the search was conducted and was cooperating, according to DeGeurin.

The D.A. also said they seized a computer and computer files and looking for specific receipts of purchases that might have been made using university dollars.

“We’re talking about a considerable amount of money.  It’s not one of those things where somebody took home an extra pencil that belonged to Texas Southern,” said Chuck Rosenthal, Harris County District Attorney.

Dr. Slade is accused of misusing public money for personal gain, including landscaping done at her home.

The board of regents voted to fire Slade last month.  She is appealing that decision.

The DA said they are pursuing the case in part at the request of the board of regents and because it’s the right thing to do.

Rosenthal said the search warrant was issued because someone called his office Thursday and said documents in the president’s officer were being shredded.

Slade’s attorney said that is simply not true.

“There really does need to be a Texas Southern University.  And those kids out there need an education.  And this is money that would go toward their education, is being spent on non-educational things,” Rosenthal said.

“I have never seen anything, a mountain made out of a mole hill any quicker than in this case,” DeGeurin said.  “And there are people that she has made enemies of when she cleaned up TSU and changed it over there and fired lots of people.  Wouldn’t surprise me that somebody would make up a story like that.”

Rosenthal said his office has already started preparing a case to be presented to a grand jury.

The D.A is also investigating other university officials, including the former chief financial officer at TSU who resigned after the marathon meeting in March.

For TSU alumni it’s another public image crisis that many said they want to put behind them.

“Alumni as a whole, we wish this would get resolved as soon as humanly possible because we do need to move forward,” said TSU Alumni President Chris Le Blanc.