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The truth behind past business college dean's resignation

September 14, 2022
<p>Mike Burwell and Sanjay Gupta. Accounting scholarship award recipients on Wednesday April 21, 2010.</p>

Mike Burwell and Sanjay Gupta. Accounting scholarship award recipients on Wednesday April 21, 2010.

Photo by G. L. Kohuth | The State News

Former Broad College of Business dean Sanjay Gupta resigned on Aug. 12. The Board of Trustees recently hired an outside legal counsel to dig deeper. Amid the chaos of discussion over President Samuel L. Stanley Jr.'s contract, some controversy has surrounded Gupta's resignation.

Flash forward a month from Gupta's resignation.

It was reported by Crain's Detroit Business today that an intoxicated business school professional at an MBA college event touched at least one student in an inappropriate manner while dancing. Gupta failed to report this incident to the university when it occurred.

Two other business school leaders informed Gupta of the incident during the week following the April 2022 event. The Office of Institutional Equity learned about it the day following the party on April 23 but didn't initiate the investigation until July 28.

According to Crain's, 18 days following the MBA event, Gupta told MSU faculty members his colleague resigned due to accepting a job at another academic institution.

Gupta told university officials that he knew about the job prior to the incident at the event and that the two were unrelated. He shared this employee chose to step down for a different reason.

The reason stated in the Crain's article was the individual needed to "tend to some family health situations and lecture/consult without the pressures of a tenured faculty position at MSU" according to the Office for Faculty and Academic Staff Affairs.

The individual reported for sexual misconduct's leave was overturned on Jun. 29, 10 months prior to the original date. While they received no pay, MSU health benefits are still in place.

Crain's said MSU is continuing to look into Gupta's leadership and other possible incidents of sexual misconduct at the Eli Broad College of Business.

Editor's note: A previous version of this article said that Gupta allegedly witnessed the incident at the MBA college event, but he did not. This was corrected at 8:04 a.m. on Sept. 15.

A previous version of this article said Gupta himself needed to tend to family health situations, but it was updated at 8:55 a.m. on Sept. 15 to state that the individual with alleged misconduct needed to tend to family health situations.

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