Friday, February 14, 2025

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<p>Photo illustration by Morgan Strüss. Photos by Brianna Schmidt and State News file.</p>

Nearly a year after Michigan State University’s board requested her intervention, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is still weighing the removal of two controversial trustees. She’s awaiting advice from her attorney general, who’s being forced to reckon with her own thorny history with the embattled board. 

But as their looming intervention drags on, those atop the university say they’re content to put the tussling behind them.

It’s unclear when Whitmer might make a decision, with a spokesperson telling The State News the "request is still under review." In any case, those at MSU most directly affected by the infighting that spurred her involvement — and one person who, in fact, voted for it — don’t appear to be pushing for any specific outcome. 

"The governor can make the decision she wants to make, but we have work to do," said new Board Chair Kelly Tebay, echoing similar sentiments expressed by MSU’s president.

At a special meeting in March, the board voted for a set of disciplinary actions against Trustee Dennis Denno and then-Chair Rema Vassar, shortly after an outside investigation detailed their widespread misconduct, including an effort to encourage students to embarrass the interim president and regular interference in the university’s legal affairs.

The board’s disciplinary actions against the embattled Vassar and Denno included censuring them — which amounts to a symbolic expression of disapproval that has no long-term bearing on the trustees' standing — and stripping them of committee assignments until the end of the year.

Now, Vassar and Denno have regained their committee assignments, which Tebay said means their standing as full board members has been restored. 

But the board's other disciplinary action during that March meeting could prove to be, by contrast, quite consequential: The board voted to refer Vassar and Denno to Whitmer for potential removal, an unprecedented move that sparked campus debate. 

The seeming indifference among MSU leaders about Whitmer’s decision marks a shift in the dynamic of campus politics. 

The board is exiting a year of palpable tension and public fighting, marked by leaks to the media, outside investigations, and emotionally-charged board meetings. Now, they seem to be entering a period of ostensible unity, showing unique discipline amid divestment demands and exchanging sappy speeches about outgoing members, even among those who were once at odds.

Regardless, as Whitmer’s decision still looms, it remains to be seen whether the shift from MSU leadership to a more unified front could be for naught. 

Leaders waffle on removal, but say it's time to 'move forward'

Much of the board’s previous conflicts have centered around its relationship with MSU’s recent series of short-lived presidents.

Samuel Stanley, the university’s first official president following a string of interims amid the Larry Nassar scandal, quit in fall 2022. In a teary-eyed video sent to the campus, he said he had lost confidence in the board.

Teresa Woodruff, the interim president who took over after Stanley, declined to seek the position full time. The independent investigation into Vassar and Denno’s conduct found the trustees had undermined and attempted to usurp her, encouraging student activists to "crucify" her and holding a series of meetings behind her back.

Kevin Guskiewicz, who started as president last year just as Vassar and Denno were sanctioned, told The State News that he’s had a different relationship with the board.

Guskiewicz declined to say explicitly if he supports or opposes Vassar and Denno’s removal, but did describe a healthy collaboration with the current board, saying "it’s my hope that I will continue to work effectively with each of these eight trustees."

"I’m not gonna say one way or another," he said of the decision to remove members.

That relationship represents a sort of deliverance for Guskiewicz, who told the board as a finalist that he would only take the presidency if they stopped interfering in the administration. Upon his appointment, the board signed formal commitments pledging to do just that.

Guskiewicz said new trustees Mike Balow and Rebecca Bahar-Cook signed similar pledges last month during their onboarding.

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He also said he was impressed by the trustees' questions during that training, saying they sought advice on the rules of governance "so they don’t find themselves in a predicament."

Asked if Whitmer or Nessel have asked him what he wants done with the board, Guskiewicz said he hasn’t heard from them.

Tebay, the board’s new chair, seems similarly unconcerned with the governor’s pending decision.

In an interview with The State News Wednesday, Tebay said now that the trustees sanctions are lifted, they’re on equal standing with the rest of the board.

"They have to move forward now," said Tebay, who in March voted to support their removal.

Referencing last year’s public infighting on the board, she continued, "it was a pretty awful time for all of us, I think, and I think now is the time that we want to move forward."

"The governor can make the decision she wants to make, but we have to work to do."

Tebay skirted a question on whether she supports removal of the trustees, reiterating that she "respects the governor" and wants to "move forward." Asked if there are lasting interpersonal tensions among trustees resulting from last year’s infighting, Tebay said those are inherent in any work setting, but that the board’s working relationships are sufficiently professional.

Vassar and Denno, for their part, did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The State News. 

Gov. awaits advice from AG, who wrestles questions of her own

Whitmer is the only person empowered to remove a trustee. But, she’s tapped Attorney General Dana Nessel to review the situation and advise her on the decision.

Information about Nessel’s work is scarce. Whitmer and Nessel’s offices both declined to answer questions from The State News; And, the actual work is subject to attorney-client privilege, shielding it from public records requests.

But, some heavily-redacted emails between Nessel’s staff shed some light on the deliberations. The trove of communications were obtained by The State News through a public records request, which Nessel’s office took eight months to fulfill.

The emails show that her staff has actually done two reviews of the situation: one evaluating their options prior to Whitmer’s reaching out, as well as the current review the governor sought.

In early March, days after Vassar and Denno were sanctioned, some of Nessel’s staffers met to discuss the issue. They started drafting a memo called "AG and removal proceedings."

Her office declined to release the document itself, citing attorney work-doctrine privilege, but emails about the memo say it "frames the potential options to consider."

During one round of edits, Deputy Attorney General ​​Joseph Potchen asked colleagues to review a passage and "provide thoughts on the need for setting up any necessary wall if the Governor refers this matter to our office."

Attached to those email exchanges are a series of Michigan State Bar rules about whether a lawyer can take a case where they may also be a witness, as well as other conflict-of-interest rules for prosecutors and county attorneys.

Nessel has a years-long, and often hostile, relationship with MSU’s board — including one spat cited in the sanctions and censure.

Her office fought with the university for years over the board’s refusal to release thousands of privileged documents relating to the university’s handling of disgraced ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar. After a whirlwind reversal shattered hopes that the board would comply in spring 2023, Nessel publicly criticized Vassar, then the board’s chair.

"I don't understand the game playing when these are people's lives that we're talking about," Nessel said of Vassar’s politicking.

That then became one of the criticisms leveled against Vassar, with the independent investigation finding that Vassar broke board rules by negotiating with Nessel’s staff behind the rest of the board’s back and under false pretenses, leading to the public scuffle.

It’s unclear what Nessel’s office concluded in its discussion of ethical walls and review of conflict of interest rules. A spokesperson declined to answer questions from The State News, and many of the emails in question are heavily redacted or were withheld altogether.

Nessel did take up Whitmer’s case weeks later, when the governor’s legal counsel reached out to her staff with a “referral” of the removal issue. Attached to the redacted request was a copy of the independent investigation, Vassar’s response to it, and the results of a faculty poll showing overwhelming support for removal.

It’s been nine months since the governor asked Nessel for that review, and it’s unclear what has been done or when the work will be complete. Whitmer’s office declined to answer questions about it, saying only that the "request is still under review."

Also seeking Nessel's involvement was Detroit state senator Sylvia Santana, who requested that her office issue an opinion on the constitutionality of the sought removal. In a letter to Nessel, she argued it would disenfranchise marginalized voters to remove Vassar, a Black woman.

Nessel's office ultimately turned down that request, saying in a letter that "an Attorney General opinion on the questions you raise would not be binding on the Board. Therefore, issuing an opinion would have no practical impact."