Others offered grave cautions. Faculty members and a conservative student told mirrored tales about the threat of persecution for academic speech.

Also at the meeting, trustees debated rescinding a redundant student-athlete policy, approved construction plans on campus, reflected on a recent title change for the university’s chief diversity officer, and celebrated the retirement of MSU’s Vice President of Research and Innovation.

'Everything is so wonderful'

The board room broke into a thunderous standing ovation following a performance by professor of violin Dmitri Berlinsky and his students Friday afternoon. 

“In my years as trustee, (that’s) one of my favorite performances that we’ve had,” trustee Brianna Scott said after the six minute performance.

The mood among MSU’s trustees and president was conspicuously light at Friday’s meeting.

As professor of history Liam Brockey put it during public comments: “Everything is so wonderful.”

But he said it facetiously: the professor was noting a stark contrast between MSU’s leaders marked enthusiasm about where the university is at and many faculty members’ consternation amid sweeping budget cuts.

Brockey characterized the 9% operating budget reduction as broadly hindering the university’s educational mission. 

The pauses on graduate admissions that many academic units have felt compelled to institute as they search for the cuts, specifically, has “put a throttle on the neck of education at this university.”

Within the history department, Brockey said during public comment, all he has been inundated with overwhelming pessimism over tightened department budgets that have resulted in a pause on new faculty hires, talks about pausing graduate admissions and a ban on mailing books.

Faculty Senate Chair Angela Wilson, during her report to the board, pointed to a knock-on effect of the pauses: graduate students could be dissuaded from establishing their academic careers in programs that are pausing admissions.

“Though MSU is a terrific place, another issue is that faculty do migrate towards resources, not out of a lack of loyalty, but rather out of necessity,” Wilson said.

Academic freedom concerns

Faculty members also expressed angst over perceived threats to academic freedom under the second administration of President Donald Trump, and other threats that come when faculty become targets of online harassment.

But not everyone at the meeting felt that faculty were the only ones suffering.

“Just because we aren’t burning flags doesn’t mean our opinions don’t exist,” said civil engineering sophomore Aidan Haas during the public comment period. Haas is the treasurer of MSU’s College Republicans chapter and chairperson of the campus Young Americans for Freedom chapter.

Conservative students are scared they will face academic repercussions if they share their opinions in class, Haas said.

“We are not calling for a conservative Michigan State,” he said. “We are calling for a Michigan State where everyone can speak their opinions without fear of academic repercussions.”

Haas also took the opportunity to again criticize an introductory teacher education course that Young American for Freedom heavily criticized earlier in the semester. A syllabus for the class circulated online, where it garnered further criticisms for an assigned reading that criticizes “whiteness.” (A university spokesperson said at the time that the passage was taken out of context.)

On the other hand, multiple faculty members expressed concerns about threats doxxing can pose to educators and researchers.

“We have faculty members that have been doxxed in web pages, websites online that are designed to basically persecute people just for the way they Think and just for the values that they espouse,” Union of Nontenure Track Faculty President Victor Rodriguez-Pereira said during his public comment.

Associate professor in the James Madison College Andaluna Borcila added that she hopes the university will stand up to defend its faculty members who are worried about threats to academic freedom.

MSU should pledge, she said, to guarantee academic freedom protections for faculty and graduate students and to share plans for what faculty members should do if they become targets of online harassment.

“We all have the right to academic freedom in our teaching and research,” Borcila said. “Protecting that freedom means protecting our campus community and maintaining MSU national and international reputation as a top institution for research, teaching and community engagement.”

Student Athlete Policy

A board policy regarding student athlete conduct was rescinded as well. The policy states any student athlete convicted of a felony while part of an MSU intercollegiate athletic team will be suspended from their respective team and stripped of all benefits relating to team membership.

The resolution’s summary justifies this rescission by calling the policy redundant and outdated in the evolving landscape of NCAA collegiate athletics.

The resolution added that “the existing University-level policy governing student-athlete conduct already addresses expectations, disciplinary procedures, and NCAA compliance, rendering the board-level policy duplicative.”

Trustee Mike Balow took issue with this rescission, saying he would prefer to keep the board policy.

“I generally like having that as a marker, saying that playing sports is a privilege and not a right,” Balow said.

All board members voted to rescind the policy except Balow, who voted no.

Construction Plans

The board approved construction on a second indoor arena in the Farm Bureau Pavillion, a convention center located on campus which hosts agricultural events. This addition will allow for increased animal housing, exhibit space and a greater scope for events, the resolution said.

Planning costs are estimated at $1.5 million and will be funded by gifts to the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The board also approved to proceed with the reconstruction of Farm Lane from Wilson Road to North Shaw Lane. The board initially approved the project in February.

The project scope includes installing steam pipelines to North Campus, as well as adding additional traffic lights and bike lanes, the resolution said.

Reflections on Bennett title change

The university’s Vice President and Chief Inclusion Officer, Jabbar Bennett, had his title tweaked by the board at their last meeting.

Bennett’s position, housed within MSU's Office of Inclusive Excellence and Impact, previously held the title of Vice President and Diversity Officer.

Trustee Renee Knake Jefferson took a few moments during Friday's meeting to reflect on that decision.

At the time of the vote Trustees Rema Vassar and Dennis Denno took issue with the title change, saying that the board shouldn’t succumb to pressure from the federal government surrounding diversity or language changes. Jefferson, while recognizing their concerns, stressed that “the work we do will not change.”

“And I really saw that in a concrete way in one of the roles that I serve as a trustee,” she said.

Jefferson, who serves on the MSU Foundation Board, said a presentation from the Director of The Diversity Research Network (DRN) at the most recent meeting reminded her of “how much the work continues.”

The DRN, run out of the Office of Inclusive Excellence and Impact, is a program that supports research, grants and publication output for scholars. It aims to support an interdisciplinary community of MSU faculty and scholars researching cultural and diverse communities.

VP of Research and Innovation Retires

Several board members and administrations offered emotional goodbyes to Doug Gage, Vice President of Research and Innovation at MSU. 

Gage retired from his VP role after over five years of service. He also served as the co-chair of the research implementation work group for the MSU 2030 Strategic Plan, among other MSU governance groups pertaining to research.

MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz thanked Gage for “the many contributions to Michigan State and to me personally.”

Vassar, among other board members, also congratulated Gage on his retirement, announcing that Gage would have a plaque honoring his work at MSU.

“Today, the Board of Trustees is pleased to celebrate Dr Douglas Gage’s numerous contributions to the University and beyond, and we wish him very well and a happy retirement,” Vassar said. “Although we're going to miss you greatly, Doug.”

Gage thanked the board for the recognition, stressing the importance of the faculty, students and administrators who helped him with his work.

“I'm happy to be the face of our research enterprise, but I really want to make sure that the entire campus gets credit for the achievements we've made over the years,” Gage said.