"I recognize that seeing our organization and individual colleagues discussed publicly can feel unsettling," Tobin wrote in the email to Advancement staff, which was obtained by The State News. "Stories like these don’t just land on one person; they ripple through teams, relationships, and the shared work we care deeply about. I want you to know that I understand the weight of that."

She continued, "Leadership comes with difficult choices, and I take full responsibility for the decisions made under my direction. Those choices have always been guided by a sincere commitment to strengthen this organization, serve the mission of Michigan State University, and support the people who make that mission possible — you."

The revelations about Tobin's unit and her response to them come as it navigates its loftiest test yet: Advancement is in the midst of a record-setting $4 billion capital campaign.

All the while, many staffers say Tobin's leadership style has alienated them. A consultant she hired to assess morale once noted that employees "do not feel safe at work," and a recent assessment of Tobin’s leadership style described it as "authoritarian or fear based." In her three years at MSU, Tobin has also been the subject of six complaints submitted to the university’s misconduct hotline.

The State News story detailed employees' frustrations that a former colleague was allegedly retaliated against for reporting sexual misconduct, while a former associate of Tobin's, now working at MSU, was given what they see as lenient treatment after a donor was reportedly upset by her alleged drunken misconduct. Staffers also gripe that some of Tobin's closest advisers live out of state and fly in on MSU's dime, and that her sister was hired to a prominent role in the department.

While Tobin's email did not discuss specific revelations in the State News story, it did broadly address it.

"While the article highlights one perspective, it does not capture the transformation, progress, and care our team has poured into building something extraordinary," she said. "Over the last three and a half years, you have transformed our advancement team into one of the most ambitious, high-performing, and mission-driven advancement organizations in the country. That is not just my story—it is our story. And it deserves to be recognized in its entirety."

The email continued by listing recent achievements and improvements of the department while crediting the entire staff for them.

"Let me reflect back to you what you have built," Tobin said before listing them.

Staff feedback led to a new, "more equitable" promotion review process that has resulted in "59 equity adjustments" and "25 promotions," Tobin said. She also noted that the unit has grown from 283 to 359 positions in "just four years," while the retention rate has remained between 88% and 92% — "consistently above the industry standard."

Another section lauded a new "Collaborators in Organizational Results & Excellence" initiative that Tobin said has "already strengthened communication between SALT, supervisors, and units across the division."

It also celebrated the incorporation of a culture assessment by consulting firm KDD Philanthropy, which is owned by Tobin's former colleague from Colorado State University, Kathy Drucquer Duff.

Notably, KDD wrote in a 2022 draft of its findings that the most disconcerting theme through sessions it held with Advancement staff to discuss the unit's culture was the number of employees who "do not feel safe at work."

The last achievement Tobin listed was her staff's commitment to "principled" and "ethical" philanthropy.  Among other things, she noted that Advancement completed an endowment audit by outside counsel in 2023, and implemented a number of its "recommended changes alongside evolving federal guidelines."

The email concludes with a declaration that "because of Your Excellence — MSU is Raising More Support Than Ever Before." Tobin celebrated that MSU set a record for fundraising in the 2025 fiscal year at $380 million and has already secured $1.67 billion of the $4 billion goal it set for the capital campaign.

"You are building one of the most ambitious, values-driven, and high-performing advancement teams in the nation," Tobin said.

She later continued, "I am proud of you. I am grateful for you. And I believe wholeheartedly in what we are building together for Michigan State University."