Balow opened his remarks by emphasizing the bipartisan nature of the refusal to accept the revisions, the board's attempt to quell public infighting.

“Here I have a colleague, we may not look alike, she might come from a different party, but we have more in common," Balow said. "We're both here speaking against our constitutional rights and not only how they apply to our personal situation, but how they apply to good governance."

The board approved revisions to its code of ethics and conduct in a 5-3 vote during a special meeting on May 17, barring trustees from publicly dissenting from majority board decisions in their individual capacities. Vassar, Balow and trustee Dennis Denno voted against the proposed revisions. 

To signal their agreement to the revised code, trustees were required to sign a statement of acknowledgement on May 24. 

Vassar and Balow did not sign the statement and had their credentials to the annual Mackinac Policy Conference revoked, falling in line with the code’s new policy of sanctioning board members that refused to do so. Denno signed the statement of acknowledgement on May 26, two days after the deadline. 

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

Vassar also said she has had students reach out to her with free speech concerns regarding the revised code. 

“I have students coming from all across the campus talking to me about being muzzled,” Vassar said. "They want me to protect their rights to say what they want to say.” 

From the first time the code of ethics and conduct was brought up publicly, Vassar has said she would not sign it. During the May 17 meeting Vassar said the code harvested “the culture that produced Larry Nassar was built brick by brick through exactly the mechanisms being ratified in this document.” 

“What MSU has done sets a dangerous precedent, not only for its own board but for every elected governing board in this state,” Vassar said at the June 3 press conference. 

State Sen. Jim Runestad echoed Vassar and Balow’s concerns regarding the revisions to MSU's board code of ethics and conduct during the press conference, saying "it is an attempt simply at control." 

“It says fall in line or stay silent, that is not education, that’s not leadership, that’s censorship,” Runestad said.  

Experts in free speech and higher education administration have also criticized the code for the precedent it sets, although other members of MSU's board have defended the changes, saying it falls in line with policies in place at other Michigan institutions like Wayne State University.

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit, sent a letter to MSU's board saying the new code of ethics and conduct is unconstitutional.  

The code "violates the First Amendment by restricting trustees' ability to speak about university affairs, criticize institutional decisions, and communicate candidly with the people they were elected to represent," the letter said.

The organization requested the board to respond to their letter by June 12 during the MSU board's next scheduled meeting. 

When asked what the next steps were, Balow said if the board chooses not to take up FIRE on their offer and it “leads to a court case, so be it.”

On Guskiewicz leaving 

Balow said he first learned MSU president Kevin Guskiewicz would be leaving the university from the media. 

It was announced that the president would be leaving for Clemson University on May 27, over a week after the board held its May 17 special meeting as a last-ditch attempt to retain Guskiewicz at the university. In a campus wide email sent the day of the announcement, Guskiewicz pointed to discord among the Board of Trustees as the reason for his departure from the university.

During the meeting, board chair Brianna Scott pointed to trustees publishing op-eds, appearing on podcasts and sending "email messages where he has been disrespected" as reasons for why MSU was at "risk of losing" its president.

“I don’t know that three op-eds would let a president leave,” Vassar said during the June 3 press conference.  

In past months, Vassar has penned multiple opinion pieces criticizing the actions of the administration. In February, Vassar published an opinion essay in Bridge Michigan protesting MSU's decision to curtail its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in response to pressures from the Trump administration, which had failed to gain the legal backing to pause federal funding at universities that continued DEI initiatives.   

“It’s time for MSU to reinstate everything it destroyed,” she wrote at the time. 

 Balow and Denno also co-wrote an opinion piece in The Detroit News publicizing their frustrations with the board in April. During the April board meeting, Balow said Denno, Vassar and himself wanted a resolution to be added to the meeting, but that it was blocked by their colleagues.  

The resolution would have heightened transparency for MSU’s for-profit athletics enterprise Spartan Media Ventures, dictating that Spartan Media Ventures be subject to Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act law and allowed trustees to view organizational documents without signing a nondisclosure agreement.  

Balow says he “doesn’t accept" the board’s division being the reason for Guskiewicz leaving. 

“Whoever takes the reins of MSU going forward needs to embrace the shared form of governance where free speech and dissent is welcomed, not feared,” Balow said. 

Julie Maday, the endorsed Republican Party candidate for MSU’s board, stood behind Vassar and Balow. 

“Mike and Rema are not the problem, they are the solution,” Maday said. “This is not only unconstitutional, it is un-American. It is an assault on all of our First Amendment rights." 

“I encourage the MSU board to withdraw this decision. Strike it down, and get back to working like a team,” Mayday said of the revised code.

Changing selection process for trustees

Lawmakers are considering taking up legislation that would amend the Michigan Constitution and give the governor the power to appoint trustees to the governing boards of universities. Michigan is one of four states where voters elect members to the governing boards of its higher education institutions. 

Following the announcement Guskiewicz would be leaving MSU, Whitmer voiced support for proposed legislation, saying it could improve accountability on university boards, particularly following years of turmoil at MSU. 

"This is disappointing, but also nobody should be surprised by this outcome given some of the antics we've seen from a handful of (MSU) board members," Whitmer said of Guskiewicz's departure. 

In 2025, Whitmer had the chance to remove two sitting MSU trustees, but ultimately decided to leave Vassar and Denno in their positions. Both are still trustees on the board Whitmer criticized after Guskiewicz announced his departure last week.

In September, Runestad criticized Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's decision to not remove Vassar and Denno from the board after the two trustees were investigated by the law firm Miller & Chevalier in early 2024, following a public letter by another trustee accusing Vassar of misconduct and violations of board bylaws. The firm's report eventually detailed numerous violations by both trustees, including interference in university legal affairs, accepting gifts from donors, and encouraging students to embarrass their critics, among others.

At the press conference, Vassar said she doesn't "necessarily believe" that the problems amongst MSU's board are "unique" to appointed or elected boards. 

"I’m not sure the problems they are thinking they could maybe solve with appointed boards would actually be addressed," Vassar said.