Michigan State President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. answered questions about university accountability, fall break and structural inequalities in a forum that drew racist comments in anonymously posted questions.
President of the Associated Students of Michigan State University, or ASMSU, Mario Kakos sat down with Stanley Feb. 17 in front of an audience of students, asking him questions from previous submissions as well as real-time posted questions.
Fall Break
Stanley said he continues to be committed to a pilot fall break for the 2020 fall semester.
“I think we will get a fall break done,” Stanley said. “I think as part of that we should look at the calendar as a whole … this is one of those areas where shared governance works together, where faculty have important roles in helping determine the calendar, we always care about instructional time.”
Stanley said the university is currently working toward two days near the end of October.
“I don’t know exactly how (Faculty Senate is) doing that,” Stanley said. “But I’m supportive of the dates they’ve identified, and I think we will get this done.”
Throughout the session, Stanley was asked about his opinion on other proposed fall break dates.
In terms of having a break on Election Day, he said it is still in discussion, and that he would like to see it.
He said a debate among faculty has made this specific proposal more difficult to decide on.
“There’s been some pushback from elected officials who are concerned that it will drop turnout,” Stanley said. “I think ASMSU has made a pretty convincing argument that ... that day would actually increase voter turnout … I think, again, that is something that is still under discussion and we’ll be coming to a decision soon.”
As for having the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off, Stanley said he assumes most people take that day off regardless, and although it is being looked at, it is not being looked at as part of the October fall break.
Holding power accountable
Stanley addressed those who withheld important information relating to knowledge of disgraced ex-MSU sports doctor Larry Nassar’s decades of sexual abuse.
“We want to make sure that we are holding people accountable, there has to be a culture of accountability on campus,” Stanley said. “Whether it had to do with something as horrible as what was described ... the terrible things that happened by that perpetrator, or whether it’s someone who’s just not doing their job in another area.”
He said the university needs to work toward growing the community’s faith and trust in the administration. As the university has changed, he said we still need to continue to hold people accountable.
“It’s very important that we work to prevent anything like this from happening again,” Stanley said. “So that’s about changing policies and changing culture on campus.”
He was also asked about how the university would hold Wharton Center faculty accountable following a racist gift shop display.
“That is a significant challenge,” Stanley said. “We really want to hold people accountable for what’s done ... there’s no questioning the impact of the Wharton event. It’s extraordinarily hurtful for many students on our campus who felt isolated, who felt abandoned, felt as though the university doesn’t really care about them at all.”
He said what the university needs to do is to provide education on these topics and teach sensitivity and understanding. Stanley also said the university should recognize when an issue comes up and how it must be dealt with.
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Addressing inequality on campus
Stanley was asked a number of questions regarding inequality on campus.
“I think there’s implicit biases that are a tremendous barrier to achieve equality, achieve equity and inclusivity on campus,” Stanley said.
Stanley said forming the committee for diversity equity and inclusion and finding a chief diversity officer have been essential to addressing these issues.
“The work of those committees I think will help us develop strategic planning,” Stanley said.
He said the planning must close the gaps that perpetuate inequality and show awareness that they exist. The ultimate goal, he said, is to train faculty and administrators, as best they can, in order to begin changing the culture.
Stanley said he meets regularly with the Council of Racial and Ethnic Students and Council of Progressive Students, or CORES and COPS. He said he believes these meetings have been beneficial as they have come to agreements on some things and are continuing to work on others.
In their discussions, he said they have spoken about the Multicultural Center, and they have been able to turn this idea into a concrete plan. They are currently looking at hiring an architect for the project.
Overall, Stanley said he appreciated the opportunity to speak with the student body and address some of the issues they see as important.
“I personally enjoyed it,” Stanley said. “A lot of great questions from students. And we talked a lot about diversity, equity and inclusion, which I thought was going to be an important topic for us to cover. So, I’m glad there were questions on it. And I think I had a chance to expand on some of my thoughts on that.”
