Michigan State, Roiled by Turmoil, Hires U.N.C. Chancellor as President

Michigan State University confirmed a new president on Friday, an attempt 
to introduce a permanent leader after years of turnover, scandal and 
internal strife.

Kevin M. Guskiewicz, a neuroscientist who has served as chancellor at the 
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill since 2019, was unanimously 
voted president by the board of trustees on Friday and will begin his term 
in March.

Dr. Guskiewicz is the sixth president of Michigan State in six years. The 
university was roiled by a sexual abuse scandal when Larry Nassar, a 
doctor who worked with gymnasts at the school, pleaded guilty in 2017 of 
molesting girls under the guise of giving them medical treatment, and 
school officials came under fire for not stepping in quickly to stop the 
abuse.

Since then, Mel Tucker, a football coach, was fired and found by 
university investigators to have violated the university’s sexual 
misconduct policy. In a separate incident, at a football game this fall, 
Michigan State showed an image of Adolf Hitler on its video screens during 
a pregame quiz, prompting an apology.

The board of trustees at Michigan State has had public infighting for 
months over governance, ethics and allegations of bullying.

The accumulation of disputes and embarrassments even prompted Gov. 
Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a graduate of the university, to denounce 
Michigan State in October for a lack of “clear unified leadership or 
direction and tragically no accountability, either.”

In an interview on Friday, Dr. Guskiewicz, who has spent 28 years at the 
University of North Carolina, said that one of his first goals was to 
increase transparency at Michigan State and reassure the university 
community after years of tumult.

“It’s a place that’s craving stability,” he said. “There certainly has 
been some challenges over the past five to seven years. And I know that 
I’m going to bring experience and expertise from U.N.C. Chapel Hill. We’ve 
had our own share of challenges. And, you know, for some of these things, 
there’s no playbook for it. And you have to lean on your instinct and 
surround yourself with really good people.”

Dennis Denno, chairman of the university’s presidential search committee, 
said of Dr. Guskiewicz in a statement: “We are confident that he has the 
intellectual vision, broad worldview and personal integrity to inspire our 
university community to new levels of excellence. And we look forward to 
working alongside him to foster a climate of community, engagement and 
mutual respect.”

Editors’ Picks

It’s Covid Season. What Are the New Rules for Staying Safe?

A Book Club Took 28 Years to Read ‘Finnegans Wake.’ Now, It’s Starting 
Over.

Are Low-Fat Dairy Products Really Healthier?
Dr. Guskiewicz, a native of Latrobe, Pa., visited Michigan State for the 
first time in November, on a campus visit with his wife, Amy, before he 
interviewed for the job of president in Detroit. He went for a jog around 
the sprawling campus and attended a football game, he said, “an important 
step for me because we believe in being part of the campus community and 
we want to be in a place that it feels good.”

Dr. Guskiewicz is moving from one politically charged job to another. In 
recent years, North Carolina Republicans, who control the State 
Legislature, have asserted vast power over the state university system, 
stamping its assorted board with allies who have shaped campus personnel 
decisions, altered research ambitions and influenced the fate of a 
Confederate statue on the campus in Chapel Hill.

Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina, a Democrat, said Friday that Dr. 
Guskiewicz’s decision to leave U.N.C. — one of the most academically 
renowned public universities in the country — for Michigan State was an 
indictment of North Carolina’s recent approach to higher education.

“U.N.C. governing boards with extreme appointees controlled completely by 
legislative Republicans seem to prefer chaos and meddling over sound and 
stable leadership, and these actions will ultimately hurt our state’s 
economy and reputation,” Governor Cooper, who earned undergraduate and law 
degrees at U.N.C. Chapel Hill, said in a statement.

The U.N.C. System did not comment on the governor’s statement.

Alan Blindercontributed reporting.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/08/us/michigan-state-university-president-
kevin-guskiewicz.html