Audit at Bowie State Finds Extravagances
Fund-raisers at Bowie State University spent extravagantly on banquets they weren't supposed to sponsor, cruises that few guests showed up for and dozens of other arguably wasteful items, according to an audit released yesterday.</br></br>In all, the Bowie State University Foundation ran up a $181,968 operating budget deficit in just two years, forcing it to borrow from endowment funds contributed to the university, state higher education officials were told yesterday.</br></br>The state university system's Board of Regents did not take action against any Bowie State officials yesterday, but Chairman Lance W. Billingsley said a subcommittee will decide whether anyone will be held responsible.</br></br>Three months in the making, the independent audit offered an explanation of the financial scandal that has cast a shadow over the 5,400-student historically black college in Prince George's County and already forced the dismissal of three chief fund-raisers.</br></br>The new audit also criticizes Bowie State President Nathanael Pollard Jr., saying he failed to check up on the foundation's finances.