BUZZ
New board policy effectively forbids public criticism of decisions
Two Michigan State University trustees have been barred from attending a taxpayer-funded conference after they refused to pledge “loyalty” to the board.
Democrat Rema Vassar and Republican Mike Balow were ordered not to attend a conference this week on Mackinac Island after they objected to a new code of conduct.
The policy, passed last week during a rare Sunday evening meeting, requires trustees to “not undermine decisions made by the majority of the board,” as Bridge Michigan previously reported. The Democrat-majority board passed the resolution on Sunday, May 17.
Penalties included loss of privileges, including suite access at Michigan State sporting events, and loss of access to conferences.
“Trustees Mike Balow, R-Plymouth, and Rema Vassar, D-Detroit, said they are not on the island Tuesday because they refused to sign onto the new conduct rules,” the Detroit News reported. “Their nonrefundable tickets were booked months ago, Balow said, so the university will lose money by blocking them from attending on behalf of the university.”
The Detroit Regional Chamber hosts a conference on Mackinac Island.
While Democrat Dennis Denno also initially opposed the oath, he ultimately caved and signed the loyalty pledge.
Balow, Vassar, and Denno have been at odds with university leadership and board chair Brianna Scott over transparency concerns. Vassar and Denno also had to settle a lawsuit from a university professor after the pair accused him of being a “racist.” Professor Jack Lipton, based on allegations from Scott, had accused Vassar of misconduct, including accepting gifts from a university donor and traveling on a private jet, as The Fix previously reported.
Vassar explained her opposition to the oath, stating:
I did not sign the revised Code of Ethics and Conduct because the Michigan Constitution does not permit it.
Article XI, Section 1 is explicit: ‘No other oath, affirmation, or any religious test shall be required as a qualification for any office or public trust.’ I took my constitutional oath when I was elected by the people of Michigan. That is the oath I serve. No additional oath, affirmation, or loyalty pledge is constitutionally permissible. I will not sign one.
At the same board meeting last week, members also voted to double President Kevin Guskiewicz’s salary to $2 million due to fears he would leave his job. The doubling of his salary was not enough to get him to stay, as he is heading to Clemson University to take the same position, the State News reported today.
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