Shortly after news broke Wednesday that Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz would be leaving the university to serve as the leader of Clemson University, he sent a letter to the Spartan community. In it, he thanked the community and applauded the work administrators did during his two-year tenure.
However, he also used the letter to share his dissatisfaction with “discouraging behavior” by some members of the Board of Trustees, whom he did not explicitly name.
In a statement to WKAR News, Trustee Rema Vassar responded to Guskiewicz’s letter, pushing back on that criticism.
“A little over a week ago, President Guskiewicz told me personally that he wanted to stay at Michigan State University,” Vassar said. “That conversation occurred the same week this Board voted to increase his compensation to two million dollars annually. He is now leaving for Clemson.”
While I firmly believe we are all better when there is a diversity of viewpoints informing decisions, our ability to make meaningful progress is hampered when disagreements move from offering alternative perspectives into publicly undermining decisions and putting personal interests above the best interests of the university and our faculty, staff and students.Kevin Guskiewicz in a letter to the campus community
In the letter, Guskiewicz spoke about the importance of effective university leadership, adding that while many across the university have embraced that spirit, “it has become increasingly clear that there are differing perspectives within the Board of Trustees regarding how best to move MSU forward.”
“At times, too much energy has been spent revisiting past conflicts and internal disagreements rather than focusing collectively on the opportunities and aspirations ahead of us,” Guskiewicz said. “While I firmly believe we are all better when there is a diversity of viewpoints informing decisions, our ability to make meaningful progress is hampered when disagreements move from offering alternative perspectives into publicly undermining decisions and putting personal interests above the best interests of the university and our faculty, staff and students.”
Over the past few years, trustees have been embroiled in controversy and infighting. An allegation by now Board Chair Brianna Scott in 2023 accusing Trustee Vassar of bullying and other ethics violations led to an external investigation.
As a result, Board members voted to censure Vassar and her colleague Trustee Dennis Denno and also asked for Governor Gretchen Whitmer to consider removing them from the body. Whitmer declined to take that action. Scott also received punishment at the time for the method in which she disclosed her accusations.
Guskiewicz said what is “most troubling” to him is the actions of some trustees who “abuse their access to privileged and confidential information to misrepresent facts, manipulate situations and selectively use and leak that information to promote personal agendas.”
While sharing his appreciation for Board Chair Scott and past Chair Kelly Tebay, Guskiewicz also thanked the trustees who voted earlier this month in favor of a code of ethics revision that prohibits members from disclosing nonpublic information to unauthorized parties.
“Despite this discouraging behavior by a few trustees, I am appreciative of the five trustees who recently voted to strengthen their code of ethics and conduct in alignment with what our national governance advisors have said are best practices for university boards,” Guskiewicz said.
Trustees Vassar, Denno and Mike Balow voted against the measure. Denno has since signed onto the policy.
In response, Vassar said the “unsustainable situation” Guskiewicz described was not created by trustees who “published op-eds, raised formal governance concerns, or asked questions about a $100 million private equity arrangement,” but were “acts of constitutionally protected speech.”
“His own departure statement — characterizing that speech as ‘discouraging behavior’ — is the most candid demonstration yet of why protecting it matters,” Vassar said. “He has proven the argument in his own words.”
His own departure statement — characterizing that speech as ‘discouraging behavior’ — is the most candid demonstration yet of why protecting it matters.Rema Vassar in a statement to WKAR News
While wishing Guskiewicz well at Clemson University, Vassar stressed that “the work at Michigan State continues — and it begins now with a presidential search that is transparent, deliberate, and genuinely worthy of the people this university exists to serve.”
“I have always said that my loyalty is to people, not to institutions,” Vassar said. “To the students whose persistence and graduation outcomes this university has not yet made right. To the faculty and staff who show up daily committed to MSU's land-grant mission. To the voters of Michigan who elected me to ask hard questions on their behalf. Institutions do not have feelings or futures. People do. When loyalty to an institution becomes a shield against accountability for the people inside it, we already know what this university pays. We have the receipts.”
Demonte Thomas contributed to this report.
