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Whitmer asks AG for advice on removing embattled MSU trustees
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has asked Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, to advise her on demands that she remove two controversial members of Michigan State University’s board.
The development is the first public insight into the governor’s lengthy consideration of the issue, shedding some light on what has gone on in the months since Whitmer was first asked to chaperone the university’s deeply embattled governing body.
In March, MSU’s board voted to refer two of its members to Whitmer for removal, a constitutional power she alone wields. The referral was overwhelmingly supported by a vote of MSU’s academic congress, the university’s largest faculty organization.
The attempted ouster was spurred by an independent investigation ordered by the board, which found that the members — former Chair Rema Vassar and Trustee Dennis Denno — regularly interfered in university business, sometimes for personal gain, and encouraged students to personally attack a faculty leader and the university’s interim president. (Vassar and Denno have disputed the findings.)
Since then, Whitmer has said only that she is considering the trustees’ removal, but has given no further detail. Reached for comment Thursday, her office declined to answer questions, only repeating that “the request is still under review.”
Whitmer and the trustees are all Democrats. But, Vassar has accused Whitmer of being biased against her, because the governor is a longtime friend of Renee Knake Jefferson, another board member who has been critical of Vassar.
Nessel’s involvement could add new complications to the situation, as the Democratic attorney general has her own years-long, often hostile relationship with MSU’s board.
Her office fought with MSU for years over the board’s refusal to release thousands of privileged documents relating to the university’s handling of disgraced ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar. After a whirlwind reversal shattered hopes that the board would comply in spring 2023, Nessel publicly criticized Vassar, at the time the board’s chair.
Months later, after the documents were released, Nessel’s office reviewed them and concluded that the board had wrongly asserted attorney-client privilege over the long-sought records. MSU, though, has challenged that characterization.
MSU celebrates disability pride month with ‘Adaptive Sports Day’
MSU is celebrating and recognizing October as Disability Pride Month. The Department of Communicative Sciences and Disorders, or CSD, collaborated with the Adaptive Sports and Recreation Club and held an event called Adaptive Sports Day on Saturday, Oct. 5.
At the event, people participated in sports like wheelchair basketball, sitting volleyball and wheelchair pickleball.
The event aimed to promote awareness and understanding of adaptive sports, showcasing how these activities can foster camaraderie and community. Participants were encouraged to step outside their comfort zones, engage in physical activity and experience firsthand the adaptive techniques that make sports accessible to everyone.
During the event, participants used sports wheelchairs, which are made differently than standard hospital wheelchairs or day wheelchairs. The wheels are slanted right, which allows quicker turns. An anti-tipping mechanism is on the back of the chairs.
The Adaptive Sports program offers many opportunities for engagement and fitness, encouraging participation and community building. They celebrated its 10th anniversary on Sept. 2. and over the decade, the club has grew quite a bit.
MSU theater professor wins award for excellence in teaching, mentorship
This past summer, the American Theatre and Drama Society awarded theater professor Ann Folino White with the Betty Jean Jones Award for excellence in teaching and mentorship.
When nominating Ann, her colleague, scenic design professor and former chair of the Department of Theater Kirk Domer, knew that she was more than qualified. This knowledge was only solidified when he reached out to former students, asking them to provide their own testimonials on her teaching and mentorship.
11 quotes from alumni of the Department of Theater at Michigan State University are included in the nomination letter, all of which rave about the lasting influence of Ann’s teaching and mentorship.
Being nominated for the award by her colleagues was one thing, but knowing that former students also had a say was the most significant part of winning the award for her.
Ann didn’t always want to be a teacher. When she entered MSU for her undergraduate degree in theater years ago, she had every intention of becoming an actor. But eventually, through the study groups and rehearsals of her undergraduate career, Ann began to discover that her passion for learning came before her passion for performance.
Outside of the classroom, she was committed to helping her peers study and she was good at it. In rehearsals, she found herself caring less about performance and more for the environment of rehearsals themselves.
All of these new discoveries about herself finally culminated in a decision, made in her senior year at MSU, that she wanted to be a professor.
At the heart of Ann’s instruction and teaching philosophy is the development and encouragement of critical thinking skills. One of the largest lessons she has learned during her time as an instructor is the importance of teaching students how to question and challenge concepts, she said.
Ann’s teaching philosophy lends itself to the development of critical thinking. Interdisciplinarity is integral to the study of theater, she said, and this is one of the core elements of her philosophy.
Alongside the study of theater, Ann is committed to making her students better students. She incorporates the importance of prioritization and decision-making into her teaching philosophy.
Based on original reporting by Alex Walters, Jason Benedek and Hannah Locke.
