The two Michigan State University trustees who have pending lawsuits against fellow board members and administration officials explained why they pursued the litigation at the Friday, Oct. 30 Board of Trustees meeting while the Faculty Senate leader urged the trustees to stop the infighting.

Vassar, D-Detroit, said she felt “relieved” that she’d filed the lawsuit after three years of conflict between herself and the board.

“For a long time, I tried to be quiet, reasonable,” she said. “A colleague who absorbed it all and kept working. I didn’t make anything better by doing that.”

In the Oct. 21 lawsuit, Vassar argued that current and former trustees as well as other MSU officials, including Board Chair Brianna Scott, D-Muskegon, and President Kevin Guskiewicz, “orchestrated a campaign of intentional discrimination and retaliation against her.”

“Our trustee’s duty is to this university and the public it serves, not to the comfort of this board,” she said. “I’ve asked hard questions in my duty to do so. … A question is not an attack; it’s where learning starts. I will not argue my case here, that will be up to the court. … I will say plainly the no trustee should need a lawsuit to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Vassar continued. “I will keep asking. I will keep serving, and I will keep showing up for the people of Michigan.”

No board member responded to her statement during the meeting. Guskiewicz previously said he wouldn’t let the litigation distract him and the university from their work.

In his Oct. 28 federal lawsuit, Mike Balow, R-Plymouth, claimed Scott and the board’s secretary Stefan Fletcher violated his free speech and due process rights after he received sanctions for refusing to sign the revised Board Code of Ethics and Conduct earlier this year.

“(The lawsuit) was the result, and I suppose the inevitable conclusion of the immovability of the board,” Balow said. “Not for lack of trying, we couldn’t seem to have one inch of movement toward any sort of compromise or comprehensive legal review.

“We are committed on this board, my co-equal seven colleagues and myself, to mutual respect, doing what’s best for our students, and civil discourse even if we disagree at times over a course of action,” he continued.

No other trustee acknowledged Balow’s lawsuit during their comments.

Faculty Senate Chair John Aerni-Flessner called on the board during his comment period to stop the infighting and refocus on MSU’s mission.

“The mission for which we, the faculty, signed on is the education of students and pushing forward research in all fields to bring forth a better life for all,” Aerni-Flessner said. “The petty squabbles, the federal lawsuits that sap institutional resources at a time of across-the-board budget cuts, the potential conflicts of interest, the constant bickering that takes time, energy and institutional attention away from our core missions do not advance our mission.”

satwood@detroitnews.com

This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU faculty leader urges stop to infighting as 2 trustees explain lawsuits

Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News

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