A nonpartisan organization that advocates for the separation of church and state has accused Mott Community College President Shaunda Richardson-Snell of trying to convert others to Christianity while serving as president of the public college.
The nonprofit, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, sent a letter to the college’s board and Richardson-Snell on Dec. 12, 2025. A special board meeting to discuss a “personnel complaint dated December 12, 2025” was called by Trustees John Daly III, Kenyetta Dotson and Art Reyes and is scheduled for Wednesday.
Only one of the Flint-based college’s seven trustees, Reyes, responded to requests for comment by The Detroit News.
Reyes said the meeting was prompted by an outside letter and he was unaware of any complaints about the president’s behavior since.
Richardson-Snell and a Mott Community College spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The letter from Americans United staff attorney Ian Smith said the organization had received a complaint claiming that Richardson-Snell made “proselytizing religious comments” on multiple occasions while serving in her official role at the public college. The letter cited one example, where Richardson-Snell asked a guest if he’d accepted “Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior,” at an Oct. 13, 2025 event hosted by the college.
The complaint against Richardson-Snell was first reported by Bridge Michigan.
Former Mott Community College professor and academic advisor Celia Perez Booth brought up the incident during the public comment period at the Mott board’s October meeting.
Perez Booth, a prominent Mexican-Indigenous cultural preservationist, said she was concerned about a statement Richardson-Snell made to their guest, Wayne Wilson, a member of the Navajo tribe, during the 33rd Annual Peace & Dignity Observance Sacred Ceremony.
Richardson-Snell asking Wilson if he’d accepted Christ was “despicable,” Perez Booth said.
“It is disgusting to us, as people of the First Nations, that more than 500 years later, we as American Indians have to endure a Christian’s continued intrusion on our spiritual rights,” Perez Booth said during the board meeting. “And, I suspect, attempts of conversion.”
Reyes, the Mott Community College trustee, said Richardson-Snell’s conduct was improper.
“I felt it wasn’t a proper situation,” he said. “I don’t know if the president has apologized, but I reached out myself to apologize as an individual trustee.”
During the October board meeting, Reyes raised a student’s concerns about comments by Richardson-Snell regarding the standards for students’ use of artificial intelligence.
“The president asked him if he was aware there was ‘one truth,'” Reyes said during the board meeting. “She then started espousing her beliefs as they pertained to what that one truth was … then further went on that there’s a struggle for the world and the devil was involved.”
The letter from the attorney at Americans United for Separation of Church and State said that allowing the president of the public community college to religiously proselytize students, employees or visitors disrespected the beliefs of the community and sends the message that those who do not practice the “officially favored” faith are unwelcome outsiders.
If Richardson-Snell used her government position to proselytize, it would violate the establishment clause of the First Amendment favoring one religion over others, Smith said.
Smith asked the college to respond to the letter within 30 days, detailing how it planned to address Richardson-Snell’s purported statements.
satwood@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Mott Community College president accused of ‘proselytizing’ for Christianity
Reporting by Sarah Atwood, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
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