Welcome to the last episode of the week!

Today’s weather forecast is predicting a mix of clouds and sun in the morning followed by cloudy skies during the afternoon with a high of 56 degrees and a low of 38 degrees. Looking into the weekend it will be low to mid 50’s with both days with intervals of clouds and sunshine.

President Staley to resign in 90 days, states he has no confidence in board

President Samuel L. Stanley Jr. has given the Board of Trustees a 90-day notice of resignation.

In a video emailed to the MSU community, Stanley announced he will resign in 90-days because he has lost confidence in the board.

“I cannot, in good conscience, continue to serve this board as constituted,” Stanley said in the video.

Stanley’s resignation notice follows over a month of turmoil surrounding the board’s discussion of his contract. At the heart of the issue lies the board’s failure to comply with Title IX certification procedures. Student and faculty groups, like the student government and faculty senate, have criticized the board, also declaring no confidence in the trustees.

It all started on Sept. 11 when it was revealed to the press that members of the board asked Stanley to resign. Chaos unfolded over the next month: Statements of support from trustees and university leaders were released, trustees criticized each other for sharing information with the media, and various student groups, professors and faculty called for more transparency.

Every year, MSU’s Title IX reports need to be reviewed by the president and at least one other trustee for certification. Trustees claimed that Stanley was at fault for a failure in the certification process although he did his part to re-certify. Stanley said some of the trustees did not review their sections as they were supposed to. After the re-certification process, the board released the report to show that inconsistent messaging led to the issue.

Stanley said in the video, “Presidents are transient. Boards change. But the faculty, staff, students and alumni and what they stand for, is the heart and soul of the university.”

MSU students remain confused following Stanley’s resignation notice

MSU students cite confusion following President Stanley’s resignation notice.

“I know that it’s been a big issue,” business sophomore Tabby Basha said. “Everyone was talking about how it feels very two-sided, one side on President Stanley’s and the other side was on the side of the Board.”

Many students said they felt the University lacked transparency surrounding the events that led to President Stanley’s resignation.

Computer science freshman Jadon Webb also felt confused about what led President Stanley to resign, despite his efforts to understand the unfolding events.

“I read in the newsletter about what was happening, but they were kind of weird about it because they weren’t really saying the entire story,” Webb said. “We kind of didn’t know what was happening.”

An investigation regarding Stanley’s alleged failure in a Title IX certification process is ongoing.

Social science sophomore Lucy Wright expressed concerns regarding actions Stanley has taken during his presidency, and whether these changes would be upheld.

“I know things like COVID-19 measures have changed in the past year,” Wright said. “I don’t know if a new president would affect things like availability of testing and stuff.”

Students have key concerns in mind when it comes to what they want to see from their next university president.

President Stanley’s resignation will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2023.

Pre-med students see lack of abortion education, discourse in their classes

The medical community deals with many controversial subjects, and abortion is just one of them.

Because of its contentious nature, neuroscience and psychology senior Tess Andrews said that professors approach the subject delicately while most of her classes avoid the matter altogether.

Andrews said that she understands that it’s a controversial topic, especially in the current political climate. Still, she thinks it does have a place in the classroom, especially when a class like the one she took was already covering other controversial topics.

Human biology junior Becca Bienstock said she has only talked about abortion in her pre-med classes a small number of times, in a class similar to the one Andrews took.

Bienstock said she knows opinions are much stronger and people are more passionate since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but she isn’t sure if the university is holding professors back from talking about it, or if the classes simply don’t use it in their material.

Similarly, Andrews said there is a large range of classes that students take, and most of the time they aren’t discussing specifics of medical procedures. They do, however, discuss healthcare as a whole and how it affects patients, as well as how to have meaningful interactions with patients.

It would be beneficial, Andrews said, to start discussing the general mechanics of the topic, rather than the specfics of the procedure.

Andrews said it would be a lot harder to have conversations about abortion in class if it became illegal in Michigan.

Andrews said that since abortion rights are now being decided at a state level, she and her friends who are pre-med must consider how their future learning might be impacted. Which state they end up in for medical school or residency may impact how they can practice medicine.

Overall, Andrews said she is just glad that she is able to have discussions about abortion outside of the classroom with other students who are keeping up with the news.

Based on original reporting by Morgan Womack, Vivian Barrett, Jaden Beard and Hannah Woehrle.

To end our last episode of the week, here are a few announcements for the weekend!

MSU Athletic line-up for the weekend…

Today

• Field Hockey will be playing Northwestern at 3 P.M. on Ralph Young Field.
• Volleyball will be going against Michigan at 7:30 P.M. at the Breslin Center.
• Hockey will also be playing at 7:30 P.M. vs. UMass-Lowell at Munn Ice Arena.

Tomorrow

• MSU’s homecoming football game will be kicking off at 4 P.M against Wisconsin.

Sunday

• Field Hockey will be playing Indiana at 12 P.M.
• Men’s Soccer will be going against Rutgers at 2 P.M at Demartin Stadium.

Homecoming Parade Information…

Looking to get involved with MSU’s homecoming? The homecoming parade will take place tonight at 6 P.M. in downtown East Lansing and will feature the Spartan Marching Band, Michigan high school marching bands, MSU student and community groups, university officials, Sparty and much more. The parade will begin at the intersection of Abbot Road and Bucharm Drive, travel south on Abbot Road, east on Grand River Avenue, south on Farm Lane and will end at the intersection of Farm and Shaw lanes.