EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State University’s president broke his silence on the controversy and said he stands by the decisions and actions he’s taken, which has the Board of Trustees to the point they asked him to retire early.
The faculty heard from Samuel Stanley Tuesday, and he did not address whether he will retire or what he intends to do.
He did stand firm on his decision-making processes which are the forced resignation of the Broad School of Business dean and the university’s Title IX certification.
“I want to thank everyone for their messages of support and encouragement and those who’ve spoken publicly supporting the provost in me,” said Stanley.
Stanley said he supported the decision to force the resignation of the dean of the Broad School of Business for allegedly failing to report sexual harassment allegations in a timely manner.
Faculty at Broad went to the Board of Trustees and asked for an investigation into what occurred.
“I was very surprised when the board announced it was hiring an outside legal counselor to review,” Stanley said.
Read: Michigan State University president’s future uncertain amid turmoil
The other issue is the certification process the university is required to go through to make sure it complies with Title IX. The president claims he is not the issue, but the board is.
“I was notified some of our board members may not have actually complied with their part of the state requirement in 2021,” Stanley said. “We asked for an internal audit and to review the situation, which raised questions about our compliance and made it clear that we can improve the processes by which the reviews were taking place.”
The board views it differently. Dr. Rema Vasser, a Board of Trustees member, told the faculty senate there was enough concern about Stanley’s management of Title IX issues, and an early retirement offer was extended.
“I do want to say that the board has not taken action other than to ask the president to retire earlier,” Vasser said.
Stanley has not been told to resign or threatened with being fired up to this point.
