Michigan State University has shaped my life in more ways than I can count.
It gave me an education. It gave me lifelong friendships. It gave me the opportunity to spend years serving students as an academic advisor. It introduced me to extraordinary faculty, staff, alumni, and student-athletes who dedicate themselves every day to making Michigan State one of the nation’s great public universities.
It also taught me something even more important: when people from different backgrounds come together around a common purpose, incredible things happen.
That belief is why I am running for the Michigan State University Board of Trustees as an Independent.
This campaign is not about political parties. It is about Michigan State.
Over the past several years, too many headlines about our university have focused on conflict inside the Board of Trustees instead of the remarkable work taking place across campus. Students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, and Michigan taxpayers deserve leadership that inspires confidence, builds trust, and keeps the focus on the university’s mission.
Our students deserve a board focused on preparing them for successful futures.
Our faculty and staff deserve a board that supports excellence in teaching, research, and innovation.
Our alumni deserve a board that values their voices and recognizes they remain lifelong partners in the university’s success.
And Michigan deserves trustees who govern with professionalism, transparency, accountability, and respect.
Trustees should ask difficult questions. They should challenge assumptions. They should provide meaningful oversight. But they must also remember that they are stewards of a public institution – not representatives of political parties, personal agendas, or individual interests.
My own journey has reinforced that perspective.
My experiences living with muscular dystrophy have given me an even deeper appreciation for resilience, empathy, and service. They have strengthened my conviction that leadership begins with listening, treating people with dignity, and bringing together individuals with different perspectives to solve problems.Those are the values I would bring to the Board of Trustees.
If elected, I will work every day to help restore public confidence in Board leadership by encouraging respectful dialogue, increasing transparency, supporting sound financial stewardship, and keeping student success at the center of every decision. Independent leadership also means independent thinking. I won’t arrive with instructions from a political party. I will arrive with one responsibility: doing what is best for Michigan State University.
Before my name can appear on the November ballot, however, I must first earn that opportunity.
Michigan law requires independent candidates for statewide office to submit at least 12,000 valid signatures from registered Michigan voters by July 16. It is an ambitious goal, but I believe grassroots campaigns succeed when ordinary people decide their voices matter.
If you believe Michigan State deserves an independent voice committed to collaboration, accountability, and putting the university first, I would be honored to earn your support.
Whether you can collect signatures, volunteer your time, introduce me to others across Michigan, or simply learn more about the campaign, every contribution makes a difference.
Michigan State’s greatest strength has never been any one trustee, president, coach, or donor. Its strength has always been its people—more than 600,000 alumni, thousands of dedicated employees, and generations of students who believe in the promise of this extraordinary university.
That is who I am running to represent.
Mo Gerhardt is an Independent candidate for the Michigan State University Board of Trustees.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Gerhardt: Why I’m running for MSU trustee as an Independent
Reporting by Mo Gerhardt, For the Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Mo Gerhardt, For the Lansing State Journal | USA TODAY Network
