MSU clarifies role of Vassar, Denno while Whitmer weighs their fates
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EAST LANSING — Weeks after the Michigan State University Board of Trustees referred former Chair Rema Vassar and Trustee Dennis Denno to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for possible removal, the board has clarified what roles the elected trustees can have on the board.
Fellow trustees have stripped Vassar and Denno of all committee assignments, including Vassar's role as liaison to the MSU and Henry Ford Health Steering Committee, and Denno's position as chair of Academic Affairs. Neither trustee will be able to be reimbursed for travel, and will not receive free tickets to MSU sporting events.
They are still able to attend all of the board's formal and informal meetings, and vote, the university said Thursday.
The board added that "To the extent the Board or University would incur a cost, fee, or expense for Trustees Denno or Vassar to attend a future event, such expense and travel generally will not be reimbursed."
The limitations will stay in place until Dec. 31, 2024.
The board voted 6-2 in a special meeting March 3 to censure the pair and refer misconduct allegations against Vassar and Denno to Whitmer under a Michigan law that allows the governor to remove elected officials. Vassar and Denno cast the no votes.
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Vassar and Denno are accused of multiple violations of trustee codes of conduct and ethics.
Whitmer still has not indicated publicly whether she will remove the trustees. Stacey LaRouche, press secretary to Whitmer, told the State Journal in a text message after the vote that the governor's office was aware Vassar and Denno had been referred for potential removal.
"As we have done in similar instances, we will take the time to carefully review this request upon official receipt of the formal communication of the board," LaRouche wrote.
LaRouche did not provide a timeline for how long the review would take.
Last fall, Whitmer called the allegations against Vassar made public in a letter from Trustee Brianna Scott "deeply concerning." The letter sparked an investigation, which led to a law firm's recommendation Vassar and Denno be removed by the governor. The board censured Scott for releasing the letter.
"I'm taking it very seriously," Whitmer said during a news media scrum in the fall. "I think the allegations, if accurate, amount to a serious breach of conduct in what we expect of our board members and ... the oath that they took."
It's extremely rare for an elected official to be removed by the governor, so much so that there isn't a defined process, said Eric Lupher, president of the Citizens Research Council, a nonprofit public affairs research organization based in Livonia.
The last high-profile effort to remove an elected official by a Michigan governor was more than a decade ago, he said. And the elected official in question, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, resigned before Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced a decision.
On March 14, MSU's Academic Congress passed a resolution for Whitmer to remove the trustees, adding to public pressure on the governor.
Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com. Follow her on X @sarahmatwood
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: MSU clarifies role of Vassar, Denno while Whitmer weighs their fates
