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   From: yourdime@outlook.com   
      
   EAST LANSING — The future of two Michigan State University trustees now   
   rests with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.   
      
   Trustees voted 6-2 to censure and refer misconduct allegations against   
   former Chair Rema Vassar and Trustee Dennis Denno under a Michigan law   
   that allows the governor to remove elected officials. Vassar and Denno   
   were the no votes.   
      
   Trustees also voted to censure Trustee Brianna Scott, with Vassar the lone   
   no vote, because she wrote and released public a letter alleging   
   misconduct by Vassar. Scott voluntarily accepted the decision that amounts   
   to a formal statement of disapproval from the board.   
      
   The votes also stripped Vassar and Denno of board assignments and from any   
   liaison positions as well as any other duties except those involved with   
   their elected positions.   
      
   The meeting was focused on the recommendations in an investigation   
   unveiled publicly Wednesday that recommended trustees refer Vassar and   
   Denno to Whitmer for possible removal and that members consider censuring   
   Trustee Brianna Scott. All three are Democrats, as is Whitmer.   
      
   "I maintain that I disagree with some of the findings and recommendations   
   in the Miller Chevalier report," Vassar said before the vote. "I can tell   
   you that this report is incomplete and omits some very important   
   information and key voices that could have provided a fuller and different   
   picture of the circumstances and intentions of the people involved.”   
      
   Vassar, the first Black woman to chair the board, teared up as she thanked   
   the Black Student Alliance and the NAACP for their continued support. She   
   also said she believed her racial and gender identity influenced the way   
   she was viewed, and hoped that perceptions of her did not influence the   
   investigation.   
      
   She was elected in 2020 to a term that expires in 2029.   
      
   "African Americans, other people of color and women are oftentimes held to   
   a much higher standard or diminished and dismissed...," Vassar said.   
   "Well, as I've stated, I could have made some different decisions. I   
   certainly hope that who I am did not influence anyone involved in this   
   investigation and report."   
      
   During Sunday night's meeting, Denno referred to the statement he released   
   earlier Sunday defending his actions, and said he had nothing else to say.   
      
   The eight-member elected board met in a rare late-night weekend special   
   meeting over Zoom that was scheduled to start at 10 p.m. but began closer   
   to 10:30 p.m..   
      
   Before the vote to censure Scott, longtime Trustee Dianne Byrum thanked   
   her for coming forward and speaking out against Vassar.   
      
   "It was a very courageous act," Byrum said. "The findings have resulted in   
   the action today, and I know that that was at a personal cost to you and I   
   want to let you know that I appreciate it."   
      
   Michigan law allows the governor to remove board members for a variety of   
   reasons, including "gross neglect of duty or for corrupt conduct in   
   office, or any other misfeasance or malfeasance therein...."   
      
   Vassar resigned as chair Sunday afternoon, but did not avoid having her   
   allegations referred to the governor. The board elected Republican Dan   
   Kelly, the lone GOP member on the board, as chair. Democrat Kelly Tebay   
   was named vice-chair of the board.   
      
   The meeting was held less than a week after the months-long investigation   
   was released to the public and hours before the first official day of new   
   President Kevin Guskiewicz.   
      
   The report stemmed from an investigation from the university after Scott   
   released her seven-page letter in October publicly accusing Vassar of "a   
   pattern of violating our codes of conduct, ethics, and conflict of   
   interest, including engaging in repeated undue influence, and bullying of   
   Board members and administrators."   
      
   The investigation by Washington, D.C.-based law firm Miller & Chevalier   
   determined many of the claims against Vassar — including accepting free   
   flights and tickets from a donor for her and her daughter and violating   
   the code of ethics on several other occasions — were factual. It also   
   found instances of alleged misconduct from Denno. Investigators said Scott   
   violated the board's code of ethics when she sent the press and public her   
   letter alleging misconduct.   
      
   Vassar vehemently denied the allegations last fall and earlier this week   
   in a statement said while she hadn't read the report that there "was no   
   finding of any undue influence, personal benefit, or harm to the   
   University" in it. Her statement added that she was "pleased that the   
   investigation concluded that the most serious charges, including those   
   raised by Trustee Brianna Scott, were unfounded."   
      
   However, Miller & Chevalier found numerous examples of alleged misconduct   
   relating to Vassar. Those included Vassar accepting free flights and   
   tickets for her and her daughter on a donor's plane and meeting with   
   former Dean Sanjay Gupta to discuss a settlement in the lawsuit he filed   
   over his forced resignation by then-Provost Teresa Woodruff from the Eli   
   Broad College of Business at MSU. Woodruff was later promoted to interim   
   president, a role that ends Monday.   
      
   Vassar, the investigation found, also violated a board policy against   
   retaliation in respect to a witness in the investigation and met with   
   Attorney General Dana Nessel's office regarding the AG's investigation   
   into documents related to the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal the   
   university was fighting to keep secret under attorney-client privilege,   
   according to the report.   
      
   Denno had not commented since the report was released until issuing a   
   statement Sunday, hours before the meeting. In it he said he will not   
   resign and refuted “most of the allegations” in the report. He said he   
   would accept censure from the board.   
      
   He said when he joined the board after being elected in 2022 he found that   
   “too many trustees go-along-to-get-along and they do not ask questions,   
   which is greatly concerning.” He added that if trustees had asked   
   questions before the Nassar scandal, that crisis may not have been as bad   
   for MSU as it was.   
      
   He also targeted other trustees.   
      
   "I refute most of the allegations in the Miller Chevalier (MC) report.   
   When I asked questions in a nine-page document about possible ethical and   
   other violations by three other trustees, (Miller Chevalier) ignored it.   
   By not reviewing all allegations against all trustees, the objective was   
   not to investigate board misconduct, their objective was to target Dr.   
   Rema, and they were paid handsomely by taxpayer money and tuition   
   dollars.”   
      
   Scott had said earlier in the week she would accept censure. In a text   
   message, she called on Vassar and Denno to resign.   
      
   She said the report "corroborated much of what I alleged and more," and   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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