Students, lawmakers respond to Michigan State University President’s resignation

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley gave his notice of resignation to the Board of Trustees on Thursday.

In his resignation letter, Stanley said he “lost confidence in the action of the current Board of Trustees and I cannot in good conscience continue to serve this board as constituted.”

Read: Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley resigns

The resignation is effective 90 days from Thursday, which is Jan. 11, 2023. You can read his full resignation letter here.

School officials said an interim president is not needed currently. The Board of Trustees said they would work alongside Stanley during the transitional period.

Among those speaking out was Brian Mosallam, a former member of the university’s governing board, who tweeted his choice for the interim president of Michigan State University.

“There is only one person who can unite our fractured University in the interim. I say this with all sincerity,” Mosallam tweeted. “We need unification and a steady hand. I’m speaking only for the sake of unity and as someone who knows how divided and toxic it is right now. Only one person: Tom Izzo.”

News 10 reached out to Coach Izzo about his reaction to Mosallam’s proposal, but have not heard back as of 6 p.m.

Many students said Stanley’s announcement surprised them, and others said they were concerned about how the university will move forward.

”We all just found out,” said MSU student Rishi Bathak. “I heard from a friend back there like a half an hour ago or so and so we’re all - we’re all shocked.”

“I was honestly a little surprised just because of everything happening,” said MSU student Madalyn Green. “Throughout COVID and stuff, I thought he did a really good job with like keeping everyone safe - like wearing masks and quarantining people that had COVID.”

”I was kind of surprised too and I guess a little bit hurt. I actually did like him as a president,” said MSU student Mason Greene. “There’s actually a few times I had reached out to him and he got back to me surprisingly. So yeah, I was definitely a little bit disappointed to see him go.”

Lawmakers across Michigan expressed their support for how Stanley handled his time at Michigan State University.

Michigan State University College of Law graduate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said she was shocked by Thursday’s announcement.

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