A civil liberties group said Michigan State University’s controversial new Code of Ethics and Conduct for the university’s Board of Trustees is unconstitutional, according to a letter reviewed by The Detroit News.
The Philadelphia-based nonprofit Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) wrote that the new code of conduct binding MSU trustees to support majority decisions of the board even if they disagree, “violates the First Amendment by restricting trustees’ ability to speak about university affairs, criticize institutional decisions, and communicate candidly with the people they were elected to represent.”
The letter was first reported by the Michigan Advance.
FIRE, which specializes in free speech cases and rates universities on their speech policies, called on the board to revise the code to “avoid chilling public debate about the governance of one of Michigan’s premier public institutions.”
MSU officials were not immediately available to comment on the letter.
The board approved the new code of ethics and conduct in a 5-3 vote during a special remote May 17 meeting. It requires trustees to sign a “Statement of Acknowledgment” and agree to follow the revised rules, including a “duty of loyalty.”
Trustees who refuse to sign may face sanctions, including being barred from MSU events outside their formal board duties, according to the resolution adopting the new code. They also risk losing tickets to athletic events, reimbursements and university-funded legal representation.
Trustees Mike Balow, R-Plymouth, and Rema Vassar, D-Detroit, said they were not at the annual Mackinac Policy Conference this past week because the university revoked their credentials after they refused to sign the acknowledgment statement for the new rule. But Balow still traveled to Mackinac Island, he said, to talk to people.
FIRE calls the sanctions “textbook viewpoint discrimination — an ‘egregious’ form of censorship” and said the new code of conduct’s ban on inaccurate, misleading or false information is “vague and subjective.”
“FIRE recognizes that the Board has legitimate interests in protecting confidential information, preserving channels for official communication, and ensuring the orderly functioning of university governance,” the letter states. “But the code sweeps far beyond those narrow concerns …”
Dennis Denno, D-East Lansing, joined Balow and Vassar in voting against the resolution that instituted the new code, but has signed the loyalty pledge, he confirmed.
Board Chair Brianna Scott, who co-wrote the resolution with MSU General Counsel Brian Quinn, has said the revised code of conduct does not stop trustees from publicly communicating their positions with the public or otherwise disrupting their board responsibilities.
MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz announced he was accepting the presidency at Clemonson University on Wednesday. In a goodbye message to the campus, he said that the university’s ability to make “meaningful progress” was hampered by certain trustees, whom he didn’t name, who went against the wishes of the majority of the board and his administration.
Balow has denied that his actions had any impact on Guskiewicz’s decision.
In its letter, FIRE offered to help the board revise the code free of charge and requested a response by June 12.
FIRE this year gave Michigan State a D- rating on its speech policies, giving it a score of 62 out of 100 and placing it No. 60 in the nation among 257 institutions.
“Despite improvements (from 2024), student perceptions place MSU in the bottom 50 for ‘Disruptive Conduct,’ indicating considerable acceptance of tactics that shut down speakers,” FIRE said in this year’s rating.
More than 75% of students surveyed said shouting down a speaker to prevent them from speaking on campus is acceptable ― at least in rare cases, according to FIRE.
mreinhart@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: MSU code of conduct violates First Amendment, civil liberties group says
Reporting by Max Reinhart, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
