Michigan State University President Kevin Guskiewicz will remain at the university after reversing his decision to leave for Clemson University, ending weeks of uncertainty over the school’s leadership following his announcement in May that he planned to depart.
Guskiewicz announced the decision in a July 6 online message to the Spartan community.
“After much thought, countless conversations and careful consideration, I have decided to remain at Michigan State University and continue serving as your president,” Guskiewicz said.
“As Amy and I reflected on the possibility of leaving, we kept returning to one simple truth: we love this university,” he said. “This place has become home to our family. The people, the mission and the opportunity to make a lasting difference here mean more to us than we can adequately express.”
Clemson University’s Board of Trustees unanimously approved appointing Guskiewicz as Clemson’s 16th president at a virtual board meeting on May 27.
When Guskiewicz announced he was leaving MSU, he cited board dysfunction among the reasons for his departure.
Less than two weeks before he said he was leaving, the MSU Board of Trustees approved major changes to its code of conduct, which limited what trustees can say and do and established penalties including censure and potential removal from office for violations, according to reporting from the Lansing State Journal.
University trustees were given a deadline to sign the updated code, and Trustees Mike Balow and Rema Vassar refused to sign. They held a news conference calling it unconstitutional. The board later voted to censure both trustees.
In his address to the Spartan community, Guskiewicz said the board “has demonstrated a commitment to implementing a more robust governance structure, including recent improvements to the Code of Ethics and Conduct.”
He also said he was grateful to the individuals and organizations who expressed confidence in MSU’s future and the “importance of strong, stable leadership.”
“I remain committed to working alongside every trustee and every member of our community who is focused on moving Michigan State forward,” he said.
Also during this time, MSU’s athletic director J Batt announced he was leaving for a job with the University of Kentucky, prompting MSU basketball coach Tom Izzo to say he was “very upset about it” and “sick of it.”
“We just lost the best president that may have ever been here,” Izzo said in June. “One of the best. And there’s other dominoes that get affected when things go wrong like that.”
While MSU trustees voted to nearly double Guskiewicz’s salary to $2 million a year in May before his departure, according to the Lansing State Journal, Guskiewicz will remain in his position at MSU with a salary of $1.5 million. The increase in his salary is being pursued through non-university resources and won’t come from MSU’s general fund, Board of Trustees Budget and Finance Committee Chair Sandy Pierce said in an MSU news release announcing that Guskiewicz is staying.
He had opted to take less money from Clemson and received a five-year contract with a base compensation of $1.2 million.
The Clemson board also said it was notified on July 6 that Guskiewicz chose to remain at MSU for personal reasons, according to an unsigned email from Clemson and a post on X from the school’s official account.
“The national search had a robust pool of candidates, and the board will be meeting soon to determine next steps,” the Clemson post said.
(This story has been updated with new information.)
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Guskiewicz to stay put as MSU president, scraps Clemson deal
Reporting by Adrienne Roberts, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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By Adrienne Roberts, Detroit Free Press | USA TODAY Network
