He began by highlighting that the university enrolled more undergraduate students this academic year than ever before. Of those students, 30 inaugurate a new scholarship offered by MSU: the Joseph R. and Sarah L. Williams Scholarship. It covers tuition, fees, food and housing for up to eight consecutive semesters.

Guskiewicz also acknowledged how federal policy changes have disrupted MSU’s "core mission of teaching, research and outreach." He said the university responded swiftly with response teams to protect these institutional values. 

"I've taken our message to Washington D.C., and invited lawmakers here to see firsthand the value we provide through research, education and outreach,” Guskiewicz said.

MSU has also taken action by diverting money from the Jenison Fund, he said, investing $5 million per year over the next three years to support research programs that have been disrupted by federal funding. Guskiewicz added that as of last week, they have notified 37 recipients of their newfound financial support. The fund will also restore 24 graduate students’ fellowships, he said.

Guskiewicz then took a brief moment to acknowledge the internal budgetary struggles MSU has been facing. Earlier this year, Guskiwiecz announced that they would be administering university-wide budgetary cuts of 9%, with a 6% cut this fiscal year and a 3% cut the following one. The university chose to delegate deans and department heads to administer the cuts themselves, rather than enacting them centrally.

He praised the "careful work" of those administering the cuts and said that they would ensure a secure, sustainable future for the university.

"Together as one team, we've taken steps to ensure our financial health for the long term," Guskiewicz said. "And let me be clear, as I said several times this past year, MSU is not in a financial crisis, but we are navigating a complex landscape and making tough, proactive decisions right now to stay strong."

Guskiewicz also updated listeners on MSU's new strategic fundraising campaign, Uncommon Will, Far Better World, which has attracted 128,000 donors who have contributed nearly $1.3 billion to the campaign.

He also gave updates on the progress of new spaces on campus. He called the Engineering and Digital Innovation Center "a powerhouse of cross disciplinary talent that will expand frontiers in high demand fields and blend academic disciplines across at least six colleges, and likely more."

A new Transfer Student Success Center located at the First-Gen Center will also open next year, he said.

Guskiewicz also talked about changes to the university's 2023 strategic plan. He spoke to the audience about the plan’s "cross-cutting themes," touching on various university initiatives that have advanced the plan’s priorities. In service of the plan's goal of growing talent, for example, the university has added 20 faculty positions in space electronics, computational biology and services research, he said.

"This long-term investment will help reach our strategic goal of $1 billion in annual research expenditures by 2030, an objective that we remain very optimistic in achieving," he said.

Near the end of the address, Guskiewicz looked forward to future initiatives, like the medical colleges restructuring, dubbed One Team One Health. He said that the health council responsible for assessing the initiative’s goals is in the process of working to collect university input and how to implement their plans. 

"We have an opportunity to address healthcare workforce shortages and equip the next generation providers to meet society's evolving needs and provide the highest quality of care," he said.