Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees hasn’t had a public meeting since Feb. 10 and a lot has happened on campus since then.
The board will meet this Friday at 9 a.m. in the Hannah Administration building. Those wishing to make public comments at Friday’s meeting must register online by Wednesday, April 19. Statements to the board before the meeting can be made by emailing trustees@msu.edu.
Mass Shooting
Days after the last meeting, a gunman killed three students and injured five others on MSU’s campus. This prompted security changes, optional credit/no-credit grading for the semester and a yet-to-be-spent $1 million fund of donations from the community.
The shooting also inspired thousands of students to advocate for gun control legislation during multiple protests at the state’s Capitol. On April 13, two months to the day after the shooting, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed into law two gun violence prevention laws at an event in Spartan Stadium.
Former business school Dean Sanjay Gupta
In February, controversial former business school Dean Sanjay Gupta sued many of MSU’s current and former top officials for allegedly defaming him in a presidential succession plot — including interim president Teresa Woodruff. None of the seven defendants responded at the time of publication.
In April, the board released results from a $1.6 million outside investigation into Gupta's dismissal. It did not corroborate his succession theory, but did find that per MSU policy, his termination was disproportionate with his misdeed: failing to report sexual misconduct by a Broad college professor.
But Woodruff, who removed Gupta, still argued that it wasn’t about policy, saying she employed a, “zero-tolerance” policy for misconduct amongst administrators and that Gupta broadly wasn’t meeting her “own high administrative standards.”
Nassar Documents
Empowered by a change in board leadership and public pressure at the February meeting, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel renewed her demand for the release of thousands of documents relating to Michigan State University’s handling of disgraced ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar.
The documents have long been withheld by the university’s Board of Trustees.
Board chair Rema Vassar says the request is being discussed by the board, though the agenda for Friday’s meeting does not include discussion or a vote on releasing the documents.
Title IX
MSU’s overall handling of sexual misconduct was much discussed at the board’s February meeting, with nearly every trustee and public-commenter making reference to a column in The State News which criticized the university’s process of investigating sexual violence. Many trustees vowed to further discuss the issue and make changes in their comments.
In March, the Dean of MSU’s college of veterinary medicine resigned citing concerns with MSU’s handling of sexual misconduct.
In April, MSU selected two finalists, Chandra Bhatnagar and Laura Rugless, to helm Title IX efforts at MSU. Both gave public presentations of their aspirations for the position, but a selection has not been announced.
Gambling Partnerships
In March, the American gambling industry’s internal regulatory group enacted new rules which would disallow partnerships between gambling companies and universities. This threatens MSU’s controversial $9 million deal with Caesars Sportsbook.
MSU has not yet said what will happen to the deal. A group of concerned faculty have circulated a petition calling for the partnership’s end, and an email obtained by The State News suggests that interim president Woodruff is on their side.
Presidential search
The committee tasked with finding MSU’s next president, helmed by trustee Dennis Denno, began a series of input sessions to hear what the community wants from the university’s next leader.
Denno said the goal is to announce the new president by Thanksgiving in November.
The committee isn’t fully formed yet, but Denno said he is looking for a group in the “low-20s” that represents, “every corner in the state of Michigan.”
MSUPD lawsuit
In February, a lawsuit alleged rampant racial discrimination inside MSU’s police department. The university has yet to respond to the allegation.
