The MSU Board of Trustees Candidate Forum at Wells Hall on Oct. 2, 2018. From left to right, Dave Dutch, Kelly Tebay, Mike Miller and Brianna Scott.
The four candidates for the MSU Board of Trustees sat down Friday morning with WKAR’s Tim Skubick for a no-rules, one-hour debate as part of WKAR’s “Off the Record” series.
Republicans Dave Dutch and Mike Miller and Democrats Kelly Tebay and Brianna Scott discussed issues such as the current administrative situation, student representation on the board and drinking on campus.
The candidates were asked about the past, present and future presidential situation of the university.
They were asked if former president Lou Anna K. Simon should have been removed from her position in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.
All four candidates agreed that Simon was correct to resign, and would have voted for ousting her if she hadn’t.
Tebay said Simon was the leader of a toxic culture of callous response to sexual assault, Scott said if Simon was not aware of the situation, that would actually be worse because it reveals a lack of competence and Miller wondered why the current board has not offered their resignations.
Dutch cited his military background.
“I was in the Navy, and when a Navy ship goes to ground, the captain is relieved,” Dutch said. “So I think, ultimately, the leader of any entity or organization has a unique responsibility, and when something goes as horribly wrong as we said, a pedophile in our midst for 20 plus years, I think the leader needs to go.”
The two Democratic candidates said they would not have voted for former Michigan Governor John Engler to take the interim president position at the university.
“I believe that John Engler coming from politics was, from that perspective alone enough for me to feel that we didn’t want that kind of person coming into the position of interim president,” Scott said. “I feel that this should not be a political position, and one of the fears that I had is that someone coming in who has been an ex-Governor coming into a position like this would politicize this.”
Tebay agreed, citing Engler’s track record with sexual assault in the prison system and mental health during his time as governor as disqualifying reasons.
Dutch said, as a Republican, he did not believe the issue was political. He said he would have voted for Democratic Governor Jim Blanchard, too, if given the chance.
He said he believed Engler was the best candidate for the interim position before a more permanent replacement could be found.
Miller agreed, saying a perfect candidate wasn’t available at the time because of the situation the university was in and, if Engler was the only option in front of him, he would have voted yes.
The candidates were asked if there should be a seat on the board designated for a student.
Tebay was the only candidate who said she believed a designated seat for a student could work.
“I am in favor of it, and I think there’s a lot of universities that have figured out how to do it,” she said. “I think it’s important. Where I work, we have a Board, and staff is in the room when the Board is meeting. How else do you learn (without) a seat at the table?”
Miller saw no problem with the idea of student representation, but not in a designated capacity unless a student ran for and won under the current state election process.
Dutch believed this would represent a conflict of interest, and in his experience sitting on corporate Board of Directors, there would never be an employee sitting on the board.
Scott agreed, saying sensitive topics to students would be discussed and, if this student representative were to hear these comments, there could be unintended consequences.
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The candidates were also asked if they would ban drinking on campus on game days.
Tebay said the issue was alcohol education, not alcohol consumption. She said if students were better informed, they would have a better chance of being safe on game days.
Dutch said that if the behavior of a drunk person or student crosses the line of legality, the laws should be enforced at that point, but he does not support a ban on drinking.
Scott said drinking and socializing are part of the game day experience, and it's not something the university should have a negative attitude towards.
“I do think that we should recognize that there are things that are being done to watch out for inebriated people coming into the game,” Miller said. “You’ll see police presence at every gate. They’re sort of inspecting the behavior of people. If they’re significantly inebriated, that’s an issue. I’m the only person here who remembers when East Lansing was dry. If we banned alcohol from those tailgate parties, those tailgate parties would happen right outside of campus.”
The full debate can be viewed at any time on Facebook Live, and it airs on WKAR-TV in the capital region at 8:30 p.m. Friday night. It also re-airs at 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 p.m. on Sunday.
