Pro-Palestinian students disrupt an MSU board meeting, causing most of the board members to leave

Flint ― The Michigan State University Board of Trustees held its regular board meeting on Friday, approving a 2.7% tuition increase, as pro-Palestinian protesters disrupted the board’s work and demanded the university end Israel-linked investments amid the Israeli-Hamas war in Gaza.

Nearly thirty students traveled to Flint, where the board met on the college campus of the College of Human Medicine. Demonstrators stood up, spoke and chanted after the board unanimously approved a permanent tuition increase for full-time undergraduate and graduate business administration students of $235 per semester or $470 per year, which is part of MSU’s 2024-2025 budget of $3. $6 billion.

Protesters stood up as Trustee Sandy Pierce spoke about the university’s $4.1 billion trust fund, and that same board meeting became the latest venue for students to disrupt proceedings after end-of-year encampments were cleared.

“First of all, we are human. Second, we will not stop fighting. Third, stop the fighting now, now, now, now,” chanted protesters led by student activist and MSU organizer Jesse Estrada White. “What do we want? Divestitures! When do we want it? Now! If we don’t get it? Shut it down!”

The board, MSU President Kevin Guskiewicz and other administrators listened to the protesters for several minutes before most of them left the room where officials were meeting, reportedly planning to meet in a smaller room and live-stream the rest of the meeting.

Protesters called the board “cowards” and shouted “shame” as most walked out, with Estrada White telling colleagues that MSU doesn’t want to hear that it doesn’t want the capital funds to be spent.

“As soon as we try to hold them accountable, they decide to leave because they don’t want to listen to us,” Estrada White said. “If they cared about the students, they would have stayed and listened to us.”

Demonstrators noted that trustees planned to consider a bylaw change that would limit the number of people speaking publicly to 15 people with three minutes of speaking time, but it was removed from the agenda later in the meeting so that trustees could continue discussing the issue. Eighteen people signed up to talk to the board at the end of the meeting on topics off the agenda, and most of them talked about withdrawing from Israel.

Guskiewicz returned to the room, said he had met with the protesters, reminded them of a meeting he had with them earlier in the week and said he would meet again with some of the group’s representatives, along with Pierce, who chairs the board’s Investment Advisory Subcommittee. The board resumed its deliberations and met publicly again after a recess of about 30 minutes.

“The current conflict in the Middle East and the additional conflicts around the world are terrifying,” Pierce said when the meeting resumed. “We recognize the pain, loss and trauma experienced by people on both sides. We also understand that people have different views and are aware of different perspectives on how the university can best support our students, faculty and staff. We will continue to support the provision of care and support across a range of programs and pathways for our Spartan community.”

Pro-Palestinian Students Disrupt Michigan State University Board of Trustees Meeting

Pro-Palestinian students disrupt an MSU Board of Trustees meeting, shouting the names of individual members and chanting, “You are financing genocide.”

Trustees, candidate responds

The war between Israel and Gaza also dominated a meeting of the Wayne State University Board of Governors earlier this week, when most of the more than two dozen speakers during a public comment session expressed disapproval of the way the university used police to remove students from an encampment established in the spring by student protesters to pressure for WSU to divest its fund of investments linked to Israel.

Last week at the University of Michigan Board of Regents meeting, Regent Mark Bernstein voted against the budget for the first time since his election in 2012 over the university’s response to complaints about anti-Semitism on the Ann Arbor campus, especially since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas.

At the MSU meeting, Mike Balow, a Republican candidate for MSU trustee, said during a break that it was unfortunate that the meeting was interrupted because meetings must be conducted professionally and he disagreed with the shouting. But Balow said he thought students were upset about a proposed statute to limit the number of speakers, which he said was “misguided.”

“This is the only place where people can come and be heard,” Balow said. “Whether you agree or disagree with what’s being said, there has to be a forum. I understand why every group at Michigan State has felt marginalized. I know a lot of people who have felt that way when they haven’t gotten feedback from the board or the administration. So they feel like their own way of doing things is to come to a meeting and cause a scene or be heard. I hope that all of that changes under a new president who’s taking this university in a new direction.”

Trustees Dianne Byrum, a Democrat, and Dan Kelly, a Republican, are up for re-election. Byrum decided not to seek re-election.

Trustees Dennis Denno, Rema Vassar and Vice Chair Kelly Tebay did not immediately leave the boardroom with their colleagues following the protest disruption.

Asked what he thought about the disruption, Denno said he wasn’t surprised that the students interrupted the meeting and had “no problem” listening to what they had to say, even though he may not have agreed with their tactics.

“Our students have the right to speak,” Denno said. “When they see what’s going on in the world, they have every right to feel upset and frustrated.”

After the meeting, Guskiewicz said MSU wants people to express themselves, but there is a protocol that university business must be completed first. He said he had talked to activists about allowing the board to proceed in a “civil and respectful manner,” which allowed for public comment. He said that within the next eight weeks, the university will hold a meeting with the endowment director, which Pierce will join.

“We can sit down and talk,” Guskiewicz said. “We’ll learn from each other. … There’s a lot of misunderstanding about investment. It’s happening all over the country. … We’ll sit down and try to educate each other and try to move forward.”

Tuition increases explained

The new tuition rates, which apply to residents, non-residents and international students, were unanimously approved after several comments from board members.

Vassar and Denno have both raised concerns about the tuition increase, with both citing MSU’s low graduation rate for black students and Denno’s pointing to the Hispanic graduation rate, but said they voted to support Guskiewicz, who has been in office for just over 100 days.

According to university data, MSU had an 82% overall graduation rate in 2023. Broken down by race, 85% of white students graduated, compared with 65% of black students and 69% of Latino students.

“I just want to be clear about my values,” Vassar said.

Guskiewicz introduced the new rates in his report at the beginning of the meeting, saying the new tuition rates are “mindful of concerns about the affordability of higher education.”

Kelly, the board chairman, called the increase “modest,” especially compared to results at other universities.

“A modest tuition increase is necessary to ensure that the university can continue to provide strong academic programs that prepare our students to thrive in a competitive environment both at the university and after graduation,” Kelly said. “Given the widespread increase in university costs and expenses, it is the board’s responsibility to be fiscally responsible for the use of institutional resources. After carefully reviewing the data, the board agreed to the lowest recommended increase, upholding our commitment to ensuring students have access to a high-quality, affordable and world-class education.”

Trustee Brianna Scott said the increases are necessary because the state uses a formula that gives MSU less funding than other major research universities in Michigan, even though they educate and graduate more Michigan students.

MSU’s permanent $470 tuition increase for next year means in-state first-time students will pay a flat rate of $16,118 per year for 12-18 credits, up from $15,648 in 2023-24.

MSU also increased student financial aid next year to $249.5 million, an increase of $12.7 million from last year.

Also Friday, the Oakland University Board of Trustees approved a 4.19% tuition increase in its $304.7 million budget for 2024-25. For in-state lower-division undergraduates, the increase means students will pay $15,863 next year. OU’s budget includes $52.6 million in financial aid.

Other university boards also set tuition rates for 2024-25 this month, including UM, which raised tuition by 2.9% for in-state undergraduates, and Wayne State University, which raised tuition by 4.5% for in-state and part-time undergraduate and graduate students.

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