MSU Board of Trustees meeting
September 6, 2024
MSU President Kevin M. Guskiewicz
Fall Welcome
Good morning, everyone. And welcome to a new academic year!
I like to say our campus is at its best when filled with more than 51,000 curious and engaged students.
So, it was great to welcome so many of them and their families during move-in last month with Interim Provost Jeitschko and Senior Vice President Gore.
I’d like to thank all the staff, students and volunteers who worked tirelessly to settle some 17,000 students into our residence halls. The whole process was very organized and welcoming – and a job well done.
We kicked off Fall Welcome this year with an upbeat and inspiring incoming student convocation. It was immensely satisfying to induct more than 11,000 first-year and transfer students into the Spartan community. So, thanks, also, to everyone who participated in and contributed to the convocation and the Spartan Games that followed.
And likewise to all those who helped produce the Spartan Spectacular events and represented their student organizations at Sparticipation. What a great way to help students find their place in our community – and learn about the resources we provide to support their success.
All of us are working very hard to let our students know they are welcome; they belong at Michigan State; and that here, together, we’re all part of something big and something wonderful.
Speaking of being part of a big community, it will be a few weeks before we have official enrollment numbers. But our preliminary estimates look very good at this point. We’re looking at a big, diverse group of students this year. And of the more than 11,000 first-year and transfer students I mentioned — about 8,000 of them come from Michigan.
That again tells us we’re the top choice of students from this state — Michigan’s state university.
One team and civil discourse
From my listening tour, I know our students are joining a community that shares strong bonds. We have a strong culture of collaboration here — and I’m excited about moving our university forward together as one team.
On that note, I would like to thank the Board of Trustees for their ongoing commitment to good leadership practices. As they pledged to do when I accepted the MSU presidency, they’ve invested significant effort into evaluating and strengthening their roles as trustees. That work includes adopting governing principles last December; completing their professional development with the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges; and developing several governance protocols. I’m grateful for the trusted partnership we’ve forged together in service to the university.
As all Spartans work collectively to strengthen our community, we know our strong ties can be tested in today’s often contentious atmosphere. That’s why last month, I sent an email message to the greater Spartan community — and wrote an op-ed in the Lansing State Journal — about how we all have a role to play in building a more inclusive community.
The foundation, I believe, is engaging in civil discourse across differences. We won’t always agree. And that’s OK. Debate is part of our educational experience. And it helps us see that there are many ways to live and view the world.
What I ask of all of us is to demonstrate empathy and intellectual humility. That includes listening actively, responding thoughtfully and arguing respectfully. And it involves understanding that disagreement need not equate to disrespect.
I strive to live by these maxims, as does my leadership team. And we’ve spent the summer continuing to meet with faculty, staff and student groups to engage in dialogue to better understand one another and find ways to build a strong campus culture together.
Finally, when our inclusive, collaborative culture is tested, we will stand up for it and reaffirm our values, as we did earlier this week in a campus community email following incidents that occurred on campus last weekend.
Every Spartan is a unique and valued member of our community, representing different cultures and backgrounds, and the university is stronger for it. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment of any type on our campus.
As our university works to provide avenues for civil expression and activity, I’d like to highlight a robust and non-partisan effort around voting.
Thank you to the dedicated team at MSUvote for working with area clerks’ offices to build awareness of the upcoming general election and to promote student registration and turnout, which is a citizen’s most fundamental obligation to the democracy that serves us.
I’m also really pleased that, as part of this, WKAR will open its campus studios as an Early Voting Center, in partnership with the East Lansing City Clerk’s office. This is a great example of living our land-grant mission because it will help MSU better serve the community we share, support the democracy we cherish and develop the informed and engaged citizens we need to address society’s grand challenges.
Research and community health
Some of you may have heard me say before that we tend to be humble folks at Michigan State. It feels like we don’t toot our horn very loudly, or maybe people just can’t hear it over all the noise. So, I want to take a moment to share several other examples of Michigan State’s excellence, starting once again with our culture of collaboration.
We start off the year with a welcome boost from the MSU Research Foundation. The foundation has matched its generous contribution from last year by committing $11.8 million for the 2024-2025 academic year.
This grant will support key programs including technology commercialization, faculty recruitment and research initiatives. So, thank you to Executive Director Dave Washburn and the foundation for their partnership with Michigan State.
Other examples of our excellence connect to our role as a vital talent activator for the state of Michigan. Last month, for example, we celebrated a big milestone: graduating the first class of physician assistants from the College of Osteopathic Medicine.
With medical professionals in short supply in rural and urban areas alike, PAs are increasingly vital to community health care systems – and to providing access to care.
That’s why I was pleased to see that of our graduates who have already accepted positions, three-quarters will practice in Michigan and almost as many plan to work in a medically underserved community or area with a healthcare worker shortage.
I want to congratulate the graduates of our first PA cohort for their great achievements. And I also want to congratulate the College of Osteopathic Medicine for its recent No. 1 national ranking for having the most DO graduates practicing in areas experiencing a health professional shortage.
This deep commitment to service is another reason I’m so proud to be a Spartan.
When we last met in June in Flint, I learned a great deal more about the incredible work Spartan doctors and faculty members are doing to support public health in our Michigan communities.
So, it gives me great pleasure to know that one of the programs we help support in Flint, Rx Kids, will expand to another community, Kalamazoo. As in Flint, Kalamazoo Rx Kids is a cash prescription program for expectant mothers and infants.
We’re excited for its launch in 2025 – and grateful to the Kalamazoo philanthropic community, the governor and lawmakers for supporting this important benefit to local expectant moms and babies.
I’m so excited that the Board will be voting today to authorize the administration to plan what we are calling the P3 project.
As I ran through our beautiful campus this past March, I was inspired by the untapped potential of this property at the northeast corner of Harrison and Trowbridge roads.
I’m confident this visionary project will transform this space into a dynamic hub of activity and innovation. This multi-purpose development — a public/private partnership — is a bold step towards fulfilling our mission as a passionately public university.
We are looking at mixed-commercial use options to include hotel space and restaurants to augment the Kellogg Center and additional retail, office and housing spaces. This has the potential to give our top-ranked business hospitality program a modern facility and new opportunities for hands-on learning.
The partnership would involve planning for a new arena to help serve our Olympic sports. Most Big Ten universities have such facilities, positioning them to host regional competitions that will come with the conference expansion.
The development will also consider development of state-of-the-art facilities for much-needed teaching, research and clinical spaces to further advance our culture of collaboration across our colleges and local healthcare providers.
This project has the potential to elevate every aspect of the Michigan State experience for our students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the entire community!
Recognizing Past Athletes
Finally, while the future looks bright, I thought I’d close by recognizing past Spartans who excelled on the field of athletic competition.
I’m looking forward a week from now to helping induct the class of 2024 of the MSU Athletics Hall of Fame. In addition to honoring an amazing group of student-athletes who represented Michigan State so well in various sports, it includes the entire 1965 and 1966 Spartan football teams.
Not only did those teams earn a place in Spartan history with back-to-back conference and national titles, but under Head Coach Duffy Daugherty, they broke through racial barriers of the day to represent the diverse future of college football.
It’s an amazing story, as is that of former Head Coach Mark Dantonio. In just a couple of weeks, we will celebrate his election to the College Football Hall of Fame by placing his name in the ring of honor at Spartan Stadium. Congratulations Coach Dantonio!
Athletics are a great source of unity and community within a university, reminding us once more that we are one team.
And on that note, let’s move ahead with the business in front of us.