At the board's June 12 Benton Harbor meeting, a resolution was introduced to censure the two trustees for “failure to comply with the Statement of Acknowledgement requirement” after recently approved revisions to the code of ethics and conduct were made on May 17. 

The revised code of ethics bars trustees from publicly dissenting from majority decisions by MSU and the board in their official capacities. The new code was introduced during a special meeting on May 17 and passed in a 5-3 vote.

Trustees were required to sign a statement of acknowledgement adhering to the revisions by May 24. Balow, Vassar and Dennis Denno initially did not sign the code. Denno signed the code on May 26, two days after the deadline. 

The following weekend, Vassar and Balow had their credentials revoked from the Mackinac Policy Conference, falling in line with the code’s new policy of sanctioning board members who refused to sign. 

According to the resolution, if a trustee refused to sign the statement, the board would bring consequences such as being blocked from MSU events that don’t require them to be present in their formal board capacity, the loss of tickets to games, the loss of reimbursements and the loss of university-funded legal representation.

Vassar and Balow spoke to members of the press at the steps of the Capitol building on June 3 in a bipartisan refusal of revisions to the code, arguing that it set a dangerous precedent for free speech at MSU.

“That is not governance; that is retaliation,” Vassar said of her credentials being pulled on June 3.   

This is not Vassar's first time being censured. 

In 2024, Vassar was censured for violating the board’s conflict of interest policy.