On a campus united in spirit on the eve of the homecoming parade a decision by 12 people at a courthouse miles away has caused a split.

"A lot of people are bitter about it. That she took that much money because right now we're dealing with a lot of things that we shouldn't have to deal with,” said TSU student Ebe Ekhator.

"I really feel like it's not just Priscilla. She's just the scapegoat that everybody is piling everything on,” said student John Bullock.

It's been 19 months since Slade was fired as president of TSU. And more than a year since the indictments were handed down.

Some students didn’t mince words.

"She's atrocious. She doesn't belong here,” said Nicholas Fretty.

Some on the TSU campus worry a mistrial  and another trial  mean the bad publicity for the university will drag on.

"I'm ready for our leadership to get it together and say who's going to be in charge, what are finances are going to be like,” said Timesha Beattie, of the TSU National Alumni Association, said.

“I'm ready to see some end to this. I'm ready to see this cloud removed from our school."

This year 9,544 students are enrolled here. That's a 15 percent drop from last year.

"She's messing our reputation up. I'm dead serious, she's messing us up for real she shouldn't have done that because it makes our school look real bad and we're already an all-black college, you know what I'm saying?,” said student Eghosa Bazuaye.

But others believe the scandal forced out the one person who was making a real difference.

"Dr. Slade was one of the best things that ever happened at Texas Southern University,” said Gregory Taylor.

Now for a campus looking to move on a mistrial means closure will not come easily.