Michigan State University will not impose a time limit for public comment at board meetings, something trustees had previously discussed.
Trustee Dianne Byrum said at Friday morning’s Board of Trustees meeting that while limits to public comment are common at other universities, the board listened to community feedback and decided not to move forward on a time limit "or a similar restriction at this time."
In June, the board proposed a vote to limit public comment to a maximum of 15 individuals. But at its public meeting at the end of that month, the board announced it would delay the vote after listening to public input about the proposal.
Frequent public commenters and activists previously told The State News they saw the proposed limits as an attempt to silence community concerns.
Board meetings often have over an hour of public comments. In recent months, public commenters have called for the university to divest from Israel, raised concerns about MSU’s delayed recognition of a new faculty union and called attention to issues faced by Black students, among other things.
Sixteen public commenters addressed the board at Friday morning’s meeting, with many calling for the university to divest and recognize the Union of Tenure-System Faculty.
"I don’t think we really have a problem (with the length of public comment)," Chair Dan Kelly told reporters after the meeting. "I mean, the public comment went on for maybe a little over an hour today. It’s not about time. Sometimes (the subject matter) is repeated, and so that might be a little bit of a waste of time, but I don’t perceive that it's a real problem and I think the board came to that conclusion."
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