Kim KozlowskiThe Detroit News
East Lansing — Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz is halfway through a tour of campus, listening to students, faculty and staff and learning what they think are the most important challenges facing the university.
Among the themes he has heard, one has emerged as paramount.
"If there is one word I hear, it's stability. 'We need consistent leadership,'" said Guskiewicz, quoting one of the people with whom he has spoken. "That's what I've heard consistently."
Gueskiewicz said he is working to change the narrative at MSU with bigger goals that he knows every Spartan wants to embrace.
"We're moving in the right direction, focused on the future, not looking at the past," Guskiewicz said. "We are one team. We are going to move this university forward as one team."
Guskiewicz made the comments just over two months into his tenure as MSU's 22nd president — the university's sixth in as many years.
During his first interview with The Detroit News, Guskiewicz touched on other issues he's heard, such as the tensions that have erupted on campuses amid the Israel-Hamas war, safety in the wake of last year's campus shooting and the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal that played a role in the downfall of several of Guskiewicz's predecessors.
He also discussed recent high-profile issues at MSU, including the thousands of privileged university documents linked to Nassar that the university turned over to Attorney General Dana Nessel's office; and the situation involving MSU trustees Rema Vassar and Dennis Denno that led the board to ask Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to look into possible removal after an investigative report found both had violated some board policies, which Vassar and Denno deny.
Asked if he had heard from Nessel or Whitmer on either situation, Guskiewicz said he hadn't.
Asked if he thought he has a clean slate to move forward with the Nassar documents given to Nessel and the trustee issues put before the governor, Guskiewicz said he does.
“There's a lot of positive energy right now," Guskiewicz said. "I need to work alongside this great leadership team, our board of trustees, the Legislature. … Part of that is reassuring them that there's positive energy and we're moving in the right direction.”
Guskiewicz said part of his strategy for moving MSU ahead is to create more dialogue around the assets and endeavors of the state's second-largest university. Those, he said, include its "world-class faculty," interdisciplinary research, medical model in Grand Rapids where undergraduate and graduate students are collaborating with community organizations, and the upcoming partnership with Henry Ford Health for a joint research enterprise focused on closing gaps in health disparities, fighting cancer and strengthening Detroit.
"There's far more positive things happening here at Michigan State University than there are negative things, but unfortunately, it's the negative things that too often get amplified," Guskiewicz said. "And so we are changing that. We're getting the good news out. Michigan State University traditionally has been very humble ... (but) there are amazing things happening here. I want people to believe in Michigan State University and believe in the future."
MSU interim Provost Thomas Jeitschko has known Guskiewicz for a short time but said he believes Guskiewicz can take MSU forward because he has an "open demeanor and that is how he approaches problems."
"That gives everybody on campus and the stakeholders beyond the campus an opportunity to reset where people might have entrenched thinking," Jeitschko said. "His approaches allow people to take a step back and figure out a way for MSU to move forward. People have confidence in him and his ability and his leadership, and people are willing to take a fresh look and follow his guidance and leadership."
Facing a fresh controversy
At the same time, other issues distract the MSU community. The Israel-Hamas war is at the forefront of many students' minds as it stretches past six months, Guskiewicz said. Some were part of an encampment the weekend before students went home for summer at the end of April. Student activists promised demonstrations during the summer, and some protested during graduation.
While scores of universities across the country have had student demonstrations that led to student arrests, Guskiewicz spoke with students at the encampment on the first day. He said he spoke with MSU's public safety department and said, "This is what I don't want to happen."
"They have to be there to ensure safety of the campus community," Guskiewicz said. "That doesn't mean that they have to be right up on the encampment where people could feel threatened by their presence. They are public safety officers who do a great job and I was very impressed with how they handled that, and I heard from ... the student protesters, (and) they understood why they needed to be in the vicinity. And so we kept them back and they didn't need to be right up on (them)."
Jesse Estrada White, a student and organizer with the MSU Hurriya Coalition, which includes more than 20 pro-Palestinian organizations, said the protesters expect more than police restraint from Guskiewicz and other MSU leaders.
“We are more interested in their willingness to negotiate with us and so far, they have said a hard 'no,'" Estrada White said. "The university as a whole has yet to even listen to any of our demands. They will hear us, but they will show no movement on divestment."
Guskiewicz said it's important amid the controversy that students supporting Palestinians and Israelis understand one another, and can have civil discourse on their concerns. He said he met with the Muslim Student Association and attended a Seder that Jewish students invited him to during Passover last month. He said he's pleased that Jewish and Arab American students recently came together to discuss their viewpoints.
"That's what a great, global public research university should be doing," Guskiewicz said. "I want MSU to be a place where we can have dialogue, constructive dialogue around the challenges that the world is facing. ... Everybody wants to feel safe on the campus, and they're all here for a common purpose and that is to, you know, to live and learn in a place that they feel welcomed."
Guskiewicz said there is still healing to be done from the Nassar scandal, as well as the February 2023 shooting that killed three MSU students.
"We can't ignore those things," Guskiewicz said. "We have to stay attentive to them and reassure the community that we are built for this. We've got protections in place. And we're making continuous improvement, but shift our focus toward all the positive things, and that's what I'm working hard at."
MSU also has learned hard lessons from Nassar's crimes, Guskiewicz said.
"Sadly because of what happened here years ago, you become a leader in how to prevent sexual assault," he said. "And so there are a lot of other universities that are now turning to Michigan State University to learn how to put protections in place. Sadly, you become better built for this through the tragedy that took place."
The same thing is true for security in the wake of the fatal shooting, Guskiewicz said.
"I do think it's giving people confidence that we are better prepared today than we were then," he said.
Dealing with the trustees
Guskiewicz joined MSU on March 4, hours after the Board of Trustees sanctioned Vassar, Denno and Trustee Brianna Scott after Scott wrote a letter to the rest of the board outlining concerns about the conduct of Vassar, then the board chair. Tensions also emerged between MSU board members and former President Samuel Stanley, as well as former interim presidents John Engler and Teresa Woodruff.
Guskiewicz said so far things are "going well" with the Board of Trustees.
"I've been building relationships with all eight of them," Guskiewicz said. "I'm finding those opportunities to engage them on certain initiatives that are important to me and that we're moving forward on. Collectively as a group, we're trying to get them working in a more cohesive way."
Trustees Chair Dan Kelly said he thought Guskiewicz was doing a good job overall, describing him as a "good communicator and sincere person."
"He is very communicative with the board and myself in particular, looks for our input when appropriate," Kelly said. "He is well aware of what his responsibilities are. He’s got the right temperament for the job."
In December, MSU board members signed a document outlining governing principles that Guskiewicz called "important ground rules."
"I remain optimistic that we're going to work together," Guzkiewicz said. "The theme I am trying to emphasize is we're one team. That's going to be my motto ... we are going to move this university forward as one team."
That means he will work closely with the university leadership team, the board, faculty leadership, employees and student government representatives.
"We have got to be one team," Guskiewicz said. "And if we do that, and we will, I think you're gonna see great things from Michigan State University."
kkozlowski@detroitnews.com
