The MSU Board of Trustees' first meeting of 2025 is interrupted by dozens of pro-Palestinian protestors demanding a resolution to an ongoing standoff between protestors and university leadership at the Hannah Administration building in East Lansing, Michigan on Friday, Feb. 7, 2025.
Michigan State University Trustees Dennis Denno, Rema Vassar and Mike Balow broke with the rest of the board, voting no on proposed hikes to room and board rates for the upcoming academic year.
The proposal, which passed in a five to three vote, increased residence hall double room rates for undergraduates by 2.9% to $12,698 — a smaller increase compared to the 6.89% increase adopted last year. The board also adopted a 5% rate increase for apartments at 1855 Place and University Village.
The cost of the basic meal plan for dorm residence was increased by $214.
The agenda item stated the increase in housing and food costs was needed to address rising wage costs — especially increases in the minimum wage and increases in employee health care costs — alongside "ongoing investments" in Residential and Hospitality Services infrastructure.
Denno raised objections first, saying he would not approve the rate hike because he wasn’t given a clear answer on whether "this would help with these, for a lack of a better word, wild increases in dorm rates." Since 2020, basic residence hall double room and board rates have increased 21%.
Denno also described "serious concerns" he had about student dollars going toward a project to install new seats at the Breslin Center, which is managed by the university’s Residential and Hospitality Services.
"We are asking our students who are living in the dorms to spend $1.7 million for our basketball arena," Denno said.
Balow raised similar concerns about housing fees going toward the Breslin, saying that he would like the Breslin to be managed by another university department. He also said that the university needs to "take a hard look" at the two-year requirement for undergraduates to live in dorms.
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