A screenshot of the description posted by the group on X showed that the secretary "is expected to foster a safe community where diversity, equity and inclusion is embedded in the organization."

In the post, the fully student-led conservative group wrote that "Michigan State MUST end this ideological brainwashing and allow freedom of thought on this campus."

The same day MSUCR published its list of grievances, which has since been viewed more than 327,000 times, MSU removed all DEI language from the acknowledgment, replacing it with the phrase that the "secretary is expected to foster a safe and inclusive community."

In a statement to The State News, MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant said the university continues to be a welcoming and inclusive community, but the language on the RSO page was unnoticed.

"We appreciate the group bringing to our attention a reference to outdated and overlooked language on a student resource webpage," Guerrant said. "The language was updated and the matter resolved."

MSUCR Chairman Anton Gegaj said DEI is "racist" and has no place at MSU, adding that the student group is "going after the university for anything that we think is DEI-related."

Prominent Michigan politicians chimed in on X offering their support for MSUCR. Republican U.S. House Representative and Michigan gubernatorial candidate John James said the RSO terms and conditions were a violation of students’ constitutional rights. 

"This is a blatant attack on your 1st Amendment rights which will NOT be tolerated in my administration," James wrote in a social media post on Friday. "This crosses the line from equality and fairness to coercion and extortion. Education officials in this state are unaccountable and UNHINGED. We will take back control of the education system in this state. We CANNOT let them win!"

Gegaj took specific exception with MSU not adhering to Trump administration policies, specifically Executive Order 14151, which directs federal agencies and contractors to eliminate DEI programs and has pressured universities that rely on federal funding to follow suit. Though a federal court temporarily blocked portions of the order in 2025, an appeals court lifted that injunction in February 2026.

"If their excuse for why that information was even on that page in the first place is that it was overlooked and outdated, clearly, they didn't actually intend to follow the federal orders and the Trump administration's direct orders on how you have to handle your university when it comes to DEI," Gegaj said. 

This isn't the first time conservative students have challenged the university for its stance on DEI. Conservative students under MSU’s Young Americans for Freedom chapter launched an investigation following pushback from state Republicans after a TE 101 syllabus was released in October.

YAF has since filed public records requests for course materials relating to the "development, creation, implementation, and execution" of classes they believe push anti-white ideology. 

Gegaj and MSUCR said they will continue to go after MSU for the use of DEI at the university, despite MSU steadily shifting its tone on DEI following the advent of the second Trump administration.

"We feel that DEI is the biggest thing in the university that the administration tries to secure, despite it being against multiple executive orders," Gegaj said.

In July 2025, MSU removed DEI statements from hiring; in August 2025, the university axed DEI language from its 2030 strategic plan; and this February, former President Kevin Guskiewicz and MSU administrators were "disappointed" by an essay penned by MSU trustee Rema Vassar, D-Detroit, pushing for MSU to restore its diversity policies, saying it misrepresented the university. 

Vassar and fellow trustee Mike Balow, R-Plymouth, held a press conference at the state Capitol Wednesday morning to voice concerns about recently approved revisions to the Board of Trustees' code of ethics and conduct, arguing it restrained freedom of speech for members on the board by barring trustees from publicly dissenting from majority board decisions in their individual capacities.

Behind them stood roughly 15 MSU students, many of them members of MSUCR, including Gegaj.

Guskiewicz departed for Clemson University last week over concerns of board member division and dysfunction, following the introduction of revisions to the code of ethics and conduct in a last-ditch effort to retain the president. The revisions have garnered criticism amongst experts specializing in free speech and higher education, saying the changes may be "unconstitutional" for their restrictions on free speech. 

Over the last few months, Vassar and Balow have published op-eds that publicly criticized the university. Despite coming from opposing sides of the aisle, Balow and Vassar united on concerns that the Board of Trustees was limiting their right to free speech. 

MSU YAF chairman Aidan Haas didn't attend the event in person but voiced his support for the pair of trustees pushing back on the board. Haas said he’s absolutely against Vassar’s Democratic views but noted it’s her duty to voice her grievances on the university.

"Just because there's a 'consensus' by five out of the eight members of the board does not make it acceptable at all to silence her speech or to silence what she has to say," Haas said.