Two trustee seats are up for election on the Nov. 8 midterm ballot. MSU trustees appear on every ballot in the state and serve for eight years. 

Travis Menge

Republican candidate Travis Menge said Stanley’s resignation brings a new level of importance to the trustee race. 

“That’s going to allow everybody across Michigan to have a voice in our leadership at MSU and the direction of the university,” Menge said. “That’s incredibly important for people to understand.”

With a background as a physician, Menge said one of his top priorities is the safety and well-being of students. He said he would look for a president who holds the same concern. 

“If I'm elected as trustee, I really want to work with everybody else on the board, and get input from faculty, from students, from all points of view, to really select a president who demonstrates excellence in transparency, accountability and someone who's really going to focus on the long term success of our university, as well as prioritize the safety and well being of our students,” Menge said.

In the wake of tension between Stanley and the board, several student and faculty organizations have demanded better transparency from the board. Three university organizations have passed votes of no confidence. 

Menge said increased communication and collaboration with students, faculty and staff is important in improving transparency. 

“I think that's really important for the next president at Michigan State, that they can have open and honest discussions about issues, that they can have essentially effective communication, that they can be open and transparent,” Menge said. “Overall, that’s going to help in restoring and rebuilding the trust on campus.”

Dennis Denno

Democratic candidate Dennis Denno said it is important for the next president to be able to listen to people even if they don’t agree with everyone. He said one problem with transparency is not all board meetings are open to the public.

“They make decisions in private and then they come out in public with unanimous, they’re almost always unanimous, decisions,” Denno said. “And that’s just not a healthy way to govern. And it’s not a democratic way to spend our tax money.”

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled in 1999 that Michigan’s constitutional structure shields university boards from public scrutiny of much of their decision-making. The court ruled the Open Meetings Act applies only to “formal” meetings of the board.

In reference to improved transparency, Denno said he is in support of releasing thousands of unreleased documents relating to the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case.

Mike Balow

Republican candidate Mike Balow also said he supports the public release of these documents.

“One of my interview questions for the president would be, do you favor releasing the 6000 documents?” Balow said. “I do, do you? That, to me, is openness.”

Balow said he would be looking for a president who is always willing to engage with concerned community members, either personally or through their staff.

“Such that there should never be people appearing at board meetings that have complaints that feel that their only recourse is to show up and speak for three minutes publicly about how they’re being ignored,” Balow said. “I view that as a fail.”

With MSU’s Title IX history, Balow said it is important for the next president to enter their term with sexual misconduct and relationship violence issues as a top priority. He said it should be considered for the Office of Institutional Equity to report directly to the board because it “seems like too much for any one president to be able to handle on their own.”

“They need to realize that they’re stepping into a situation where we’ve been traumatized,” Balow said. “And that hurt is not going away anytime soon, as much as people want to turn the page and say, well, we’re past that now. No, we’re not.”

Renee Knake Jefferson

Democratic candidate Renee Knake Jefferson said the most important quality in a president will be having stability in MSU leadership. She said she would look for a president who will embrace the strategic plan, a plan for MSU through 2030, and who will partner with everyone on campus.

“Another really important priority for us in who we seek to be the next president is a visionary who cares very deeply about our students, our faculty, our staff, our alumni, the entire Spartan community, who can inspire all of us,” Knake Jefferson said.

Knake Jefferson said it needs to be a priority for the president to hear from the survivor community. She said the next president must “recognize that this is a campus that needs increased safety and healing.”

In regards to increased transparency and accountability, Knake Jefferson said she would want to see systems that allow for the community as a whole to track progress, measure success and hold administration accountable.

“With transparency, it’s explaining what you’re doing, the basis for doing it and how others can evaluate you,” Knake Jefferson said. “And then accountability is giving the tools to actually assess and measure, are we doing what we said we were going to do?”

As a current member of the board, Knake Jefferson said she hears faculty and students saying the board needs improvement. She said she is “playing close attention” to the community’s voices through things like the no-confidence votes.

“I hear loud and clear what the campus community is saying,” Knake Jefferson said. “I think that an important solution is improved communication. And, if I am elected to a full term, I could promise you that I will bring that along with all of the values that I stand for.”