 While at times accused of cronyism and wasteful spending, the university administration pursued innovative programs that provided counseling and tutoring to disabled and minority students, supported disadvantaged local minority high school students, and joined consortia such as the Federation of North Texas Area Universities.The administration first lowered ETSU's academic standards for admission before raising them in successive efforts to end its enrollment crisis.The most serious threat to face ETSU stemmed from the economic downturn in Texas in the mid-1980s, which led to proposals to close the school entirely before a bus trip with 450 supporters trekked to the State Capitol in a show of support that ultimately secured the school's continued existence.