Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston.

An admissions scandal at Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law has led to the dismissal of the university's president, a move that he has vowed to fight.

The University's board of regents this week dismissed president Austin Lane, in part because he failed to properly disclose that at least one unqualified law student had paid $14,000 to a now-former assistant dean of admissions to secure a spot in the class.

In a termination letter dated Feb. 4, the board also alleges that the law school provided false data to the American Bar Association on student Law School Admission Test scores, and that Lane had pressured former law dean James Douglas to misrepresent the author of a report submitted to the ABA. (Douglas resigned in 2017, saying he and Lane had "different views on how the law school ought to be managed.")

"A consequence of your actions, and in particular the dishonesty, misrepresentation, material omission, and intentional concealment aspects of your conduct, is injury to the trust placed in you by the board to manage and lead the University on a day-to-day basis," the termination letter reads.

Lane's attorney, Kevin O'Hanlon of the firm O'Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday. But Lane, who has been on paid leave for the past month, told supporters on Tuesday that the allegations are untrue.

"We'll be back in 30 days with my attorney to dispute every last thing they said in there," he told the crowd that assembled after Tuesday's board meeting.

Lane, who has led the university since 2016, now has 30 days to dispute the findings of the audit committee that identified multiple alleged violations of university rules and procedures.

Barry Currier, the ABA's managing director of accreditation and legal education, declined to discuss the matter Thursday, saying "there's nothing public to report about this at this time." As a result, it's unclear if the ABA has launched its own investigation into Texas Southern's admissions data.

The admissions scandal is yet another blow to the Houston law school, which is part of a historically black college and university. The ABA censured the law school in 2017 for being out of compliance with its nondiscrimination standard as well as the standard that requires disclosure of information to the ABA. More specifically, an ABA site visit team found evidence of gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the law school. (ABA documents show that Lane appeared at council meeting to appeal the initial finding,offering further evidence of his hands-on approach to the law school. Nevertheless, the school was censured and required to establish a plan to eliminate gender discrimination and sex harassment.)

Just months earlier, the ABA also found Texas Southern out of compliance with the standards meant to ensure schools only admit students who appear capable of graduating and passing the bar.

The regent's termination letter states that Douglas resigned the law school deanship after Lane and a subordinate directed him to "misrepresent the authorship of a report to be submitted to the ABA."

"Such act would be misleading to the ABA accreditation committee, as you requested the Dean to improperly borrow the reputation of an external consultant," the letter reads. "As an academic institution, it would [be] inappropriate for students to submit work product under another student's name for academic credit. Similarly, it would be inappropriate for an administrator to submit misrepresented reports when seeking accreditation."

The ABA report in question likely centered on the school's admissions practices, the evidence of gender discrimination, or both during that 2017 period.

Among the law school's many woes, it's also being sued by a white law professor claiming reverse discrimination, though that does not appear to be a factor in Lane's dismissal.

The pay-for-play admissions scandal looks to have been the final straw for the regents regarding Lane. The regents revealed in November that they had opened an investigation into admissions improprieties, and local news reports confirmed that the inquiry was centered on the law school.

According to Lane's termination letter, a university audit found that at least two students had been improperly admitted to the law school. The law school's former assistant dean for admissions and financial aid resigned that position in lieu of being fired, according to the letter. In one case, the former admissions dean "facilitated a fraudulent" transfer application for one student. In another, they accepted $14,000 in cash from an applicant in exchange for a seat in the law school and a scholarship. They also gave the ABA false LSAT data, according to the letter. Those circumstances remain under investigation by the university.

Lane knew of the improper admission of the first transfer student and failed to report it to the regents or follow up with any review, the regent's termination letter states. Moreover, Lane appears to have attempted to cover up the problem by facilitating that student's transfer into another graduate program at the university.

The university's investigation also found evidence that Lane had fired or demoted university employees without following the proper procedures and overspent on entertainment, having those expenses paid through the university's foundation in a bid to conceal them, the letter reads.

Lane will have the opportunity to dispute the findings of the investigation at a hearing once the 30-day period has passed.