Michigan State University’s president pressured to resign
PHOTO Brianna Soule
October 17, 2022
Last month, Michigan State University (MSU) President Samuel Stanley was given until Sept. 13 to resign or he would risk being fired.
According to the Detroit Free Press, an MSU spokeswoman confirmed that the Board of Trustees and President Stanley were in discussions about his contract. At the time, however, she declined further information on whether or not he received an ultimatum.
According to WZZM13, a school spokesperson stated, “It is not factually accurate” in reference to Stanley being given such a short deadline to resign.
After former Business School Dean Sanjay Gupta suddenly resigned his position in August, Stanley was given the deadline to quit because of the way he handled the Title IX-related pushing, as stated in WLNS6 news. The Title IX is a law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in education. Reportedly there were also other issues with the handling of internal investigations and reporting requirements which involved the school’s office of Institutional Equity (OIE) and the Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct office.
The Board of Trustees hired an outside law firm to investigate the issues with the Gupta case and OIE case, according to Detroit Free Press. Stanley would be the third school leader to be pressured out of the school because of how MSU has handled sexual misconduct cases.
“Dr. Stanley pushed back against that accusation,” as reported by the New York Times, “telling faculty during a meeting on Sept. 13 that he had ‘faithfully complied with this Michigan certification process the last two years and reviewed all of the Title IX reports that were required.’”
The investigation continued between September and October but for students on campus, daily life has not been disrupted.
“It hasn’t really affected anything here. It’s more just another day. We kind of all saw it coming for the past month or so,” FHS alumna and MSU student Brianna Soule said. “Now we are wondering who the new president will be.”
According to the Detroit Free Press, the board’s officers told Stanley on Sept. 9 he had lost the Board’s trust and he needed to step down. However Stanley refused to do so and the board was forced to fire him. In order to do so, the board had to take a public vote, which the faculty senate approved a no-confidence vote according to the New York Times.
On Oct. 13, Stanley sent a video message to the university community which confirmed his official resignation, effective 90 days from Oct. 13.
