Current Senior Vice President for Student Life and Engagement Vennie Gore will become the university’s executive vice president for administration, according to a campus email from the president.

With the promotion, Gore will go from overseeing MSU’s student activities and housing to a much broader array of administrative departments. 

His new position leads the non-academic units of the university, including human resources, IT, procurement and logistics, as well as Infrastructure Planning and Facilities, the department responsible for campus buildings.

The promotion also comes amid a broader restructuring. A new associate vice president tasked with some of Gore’s previous responsibilities will report to him in the new position, according to the announcement.

Gore’s promotion comes just after he was thrust into contention over a State News Story revealing years-old comments in which he minimized the abuse of disgraced ex-university doctor Larry Nassar.

In a 2018 meeting with campus staff, Gore said that "a very large majority of the women did not understand that it was a medical procedure," referring to Nassar’s patients, who were repeatedly sexually abused under the guise of medical treatment, according to an investigator's notes.

He also defended President Lou Anna Simon, who, at the time, had just resigned over what critics called a mishandling of Nassar that empowered his years of unchecked abuse, according to the notes.

A survivor of Nassar’s abuse who left the meeting "crying and very upset" reported the incident as she felt Gore had attempted to "justify" Nassar’s actions, the notes say.

The incident was reported to Gore’s superiors in 2018, but records of it only became public last month, amid thousands of long-secret MSU documents released by the state attorney general.

MSU's undergraduate student government condemned Gore last month, and passed a bill calling for discipline over the comments.

"His job is to collaborate and uplift students, and he has failed in his job to foster an inclusive and safe environment," said Chief Diversity Equity & Inclusion Officer Alex Guo.

Gore then apologized in an email to campus, writing "My words caused harm."

"In my role, I am frequently involved in emotional and difficult conversations, and it is my responsibility to communicate effectively," wrote Gore. "Sometimes I get it right, and sometimes I don’t. That day, I did not get it right."

He also attempted to highlight his involvement in a number of MSU organizations designed to combat sexual violence, writing "I am proud to be a part of the leadership that has brought that change."

One of the organizations he named, however, quickly moved to distance itself from Gore. In a public statement, advocacy group TransAction said they were not consulted on the statement. Gore’s reference to the group and its work does not constitute "an explicit or implicit endorsement of anything in" Gore’s apology, the statement said.

Gore’s new role opened up last year with the retirement of Melissa Woo, who followed then-president Samuel Stanley to MSU in 2020. Thomas Glasmacher has since served as an interim while also keeping his positions as director of MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams. He will return to that role when Gore takes over, according to the announcement.

Gore will remain in his current role through the end of the year, then serve as a "temporary special advisor" during a three month transition period. He will start his new role March 3, 2025.

“The president feels Vennie is well suited and qualified to take on the new role of EVPA," said MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant. "He also appreciates that Vennie recognizes the harm that his previous statements caused, and has apologized for it back in 2018 and again more recently."

More leadership changes, restructuring

Guskiewicz also announced several other changes to the university’s leadership structure, and new appointments to high-ranking administrative positions. 

MSU will commence a national search for a new provost and executive vice president for academic affairs, the highest-ranking academic officer at the university, Guskiewicz said. That role has been filled in the interim capacity by Thomas Jeitschko since November 2022.

The search will be conducted by a committee of faculty members, including College of Music Dean Jim Forger, and “with support” from New York-based search firm Russell Reynolds Associates, the email said. 

“More information will be shared as the search progresses, but I anticipate a potential selection by late spring semester.”

The search will consider both internal and external candidates, meaning Jeitschko, who currently holds the position in the interim, would be eligible to apply for the permanent role.

Guskiewicz also announced the re-consolidation of the university’s chief safety officer and chief of police roles, which were separated in spring 2023. 

Mike Yankowski — who currently serves at MSU as the associate director of ethics and compliance in the Office of Audit, Risk and Compliance — will assume the role of chief of police and executive director of public safety, effective Nov. 11. 

“It’s important that there is one leader for the university’s full campus safety and policing efforts,” Guskiewicz said. “Campus safety efforts beyond traditional policing such as building access, emergency response and security infrastructure are vital components to providing a safe campus. All these efforts, however, must be interconnected with one clear leader across both police and public safety.”

Prior to working at MSU, Yankowski worked at the Lansing Police Department for 25 years, and as chief of police for the final six, the email said. Guskiewicz credited Yankowski with a “distinguished” career at LPD, citing his hiring of the department’s first social worker and institution of a citizen police academy as key “achievements” there. 

Yankowski will report to both Guskiewicz and the executive vice president for administration, the role set to be assumed by Gore starting in January. 

With Gore’s promotion also comes the restructuring of the department he’s leaving. 

In fall 2021, MSU’s student affairs unit and residential and hospitality services unit were brought under the same administrative umbrella, Student Life and Engagement.

But Guskiewicz said that “given the challenges ahead and the unique and often different skill sets required to successfully lead these operations,” he is separating those departments again. (The residential and hospitality services unit is being renamed to residential housing and auxiliary enterprises). 

A vice president of student affairs will report directly to Guskiewicz, and an associate vice president for residential housing and auxiliary services will report to the executive vice president for administration.

Guskiewicz, “in consultation with” the Academic Governance Steering Committee, will conduct a search expected to extend into the spring semester in order to fill those roles, the email said. The roles will be filled by interims pending the conclusion of the searches.