EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University’s third president in five years could be in the crosshairs of the Board of Trustees.
According to the board chair, some trustee members are actively trying to remove him.
The official comment from the university is that president Samuel Stanley is in contract negotiations.
At first, various media reports claimed Stanley had until Tuesday (Sept. 13) to let the board know if he would retire or resign, but a spokesperson for the university said that claim was not true. Another member of the Board of Trustees said the claims of an ultimatum were also not true.
And at least one board member says there is no ultimatum for Stanley and no threat of termination, but there is clear dissatisfaction among some of the board.
Stanley has been on the Board of Trustees since 2019, and now the board of trustees members are going public with the effort to oust him, at least by some of the board.
Read: Michigan State University trustees dispute reports of president’s future in his position
Board Chairwoman Dianne Byrum sent out a statement but is, so far, refusing interviews.
“MSU President Stanley has led our university through many challenges in recent years, and attempts to remove him from his post before his contract is complete are misguided,” said Byrum.
So why the attempt to remove him by some of the board?
You’ll remember last month, MSU once again made headlines because of the resignation of the head of the Eli Broad College of Business for allegedly failing to report sexual misconduct allegations.
His forced resignation stirred up all sorts of questions and demands for an independent investigation which the board of trustees launched at the end of Aug., hiring an outside legal firm to come in and examine what happened in the business school.
President Stanley’s contract still has two years left to go, and so far, there has been no final report from that outside law firm on the actions taken at the business school.