Michigan State University trustees Brianna Scott and Kelly Tebay Zemke will once again be the Democratic candidates for the university’s board of trustees, fending off a challenge by state Sen. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit, to earn the state party’s nomination Sunday in Detroit.

“I will continue to work to make sure that Michigan State remains affordable for our in-state students,” Scott said in her victory speech at 9:30 p.m. “I promise you, I will continue to do what has always been in the best interests of Michigan State University.”

The board of trustees is composed of eight members who serve for staggered eight-year terms, with two seats up for grabs in November. 

Scott and Tebay Zemke, the longest-serving trustees on the board, both took office in January 2019. As members of the university’s governing body, they have overseen prolonged periods of strife at MSU and episodes of infighting on the board, including the aftermath of the Larry Nassar scandal and the years-long saga that ensued after Scott’s 2023 bombshell accusation that the then-board chair was engaging in widespread misconduct.

Scott is currently serving a one-year term as chair of the board, following Tebay Zemke’s stint as chair the previous year. The two are the “most tenured” at MSU and aim to “maintain the stability” with their reelection bids, Scott said. 

7,252 delegates filled the Huntington Place over the two-day Michigan Democratic Party convention to nominate candidates for a variety of statewide-elected posts including secretary of state, attorney general and trustees for MSU and the University of Michigan.

The endorsement of Tebay Zemke and Scott was initially delayed after the three candidates failed to gain enough signatures to earn the nomination. 

Tebay Zemke and Scott championed past initiatives meant to improve the university’s response to sexual assault survivors in the wake of the Nassar scandal and the maintenance of programs dedicated to inclusion.

They also touted their role in approving a December 2021 resolution that altered the collective bargaining process for university employees, which has resulted in the formation of three unions in five years, including the Union Tenure System Faculty in September. 

“We're looking to expand that,” Tebay Zemke said. “I want it to be 100% of our faculty and staff to be unionized.”