MSU Interim President Woodruff alongside Trustee's Vassar and Scott listening to public comments during a Board of Trustees meeting, held at the Hannah Administration Building on Feb. 10, 2023.
The admitted conduct of embattled board chair Rema Vassar has put Michigan State University’s accreditation in jeopardy, the school’s head of accreditation said Thursday.
MSU’s accreditor, The Higher Learning Commission, or HLC, requires that a governing board must not be influenced by donors or those outside the university and must not interfere in the day-to-day business of the administration.
Allegations that Vassar has repeatedly overstepped into the administration's business, flew to a sporting event on a donor’s private jet and appeared in an ad for a former trustee’s wealth management firm are at issue, MSU Director of Accreditation, Curriculum and Compliance Stacia Moroski-Rigney said at a faculty senate meeting Thursday.
Losing accreditation would jeopardize MSU's federal funding and ability to offer financial aid.
Moroski-Rigney said that she’s talked to MSU’s contact at the HLC “every day this week” because their organization is "closely watching" the board and is concerned that Vassar’s conduct could violate MSU’s accreditation.
“HLC needs to see changes” to keep MSU within compliance, Moroski-Rigney said.
In a rebuttal to trustee Brianna Scott's letter that first made the claims, Vassar admitted to the private jet travel and did not contest the accusations about the ad.
Vassar did not specifically address the interference allegations in her response, but did call the entirety of Scott’s letter of “fabrication.”
In July, Vassar did meet with City of Lansing officials for "wide-ranging" discussions about MSU's downtown presence, Mayor Andy Schor told The State News.
She did so without the knowledge or consent of the administration, a person in the provost's office told The State News. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because they feared retribution from Vassar.
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