Making the committee meeting open to the public was an attempt to bring “greater transparency to the Board of Trustees,” Trustee Dennis Denno, the committee chair, said during the meeting.

It’s MSU’s latest experiment in how the public can interact with top leadership after drawing ire for replacing its September board meeting with a closed-door forum. In February, the board reinstated the meeting for 2026 but kept the forum.

“The board is constantly seeking different ways to engage the community, and the topics addressed by the committee provide an ideal platform for this exploration,” Board Chair Brianna Scott wrote in a statement.

The half-hour livestream featured a presentation on campus voting initiatives and testimonies from student leaders in fraternity and sorority life. Five trustees and several administrators were on the Zoom. 

Leaders of MSUVote, a nonpartisan MSU committee, spoke about their efforts to register students to vote on campus. Co-director Suchitra Webster said initiatives like establishing campus precincts and election day voting centers are the “envy of many campuses,” however, the group struggles with participation and a lack of funding.

Finance junior Liam Rhattigan also spoke about how his role as president of the Interfraternity Council has impacted his life and education, saying it has built his communication and leadership skills.

The meeting started with a private, half-hour “general discussion” with three current students on campus life before opening to the public, said committee member Mike Balow.

It’s unclear how many members of the public ultimately attended the livestream. An MSU spokesperson did not respond by the time of publication to requests for attendance information, nor did Denno or Board Secretary Stefan Fletcher.

Balow said he believes the committee intends to continue to meet in public. While a “work in progress,” Balow said that making the meeting public was a “pretty cool thing.”

“Maybe other committees might want to consider it,” he said.