Public Statement from Trustee Jefferson at Board Meeting 12/13/19

I want to thank Governor Gretchen Whitmer for appointing me to serve as a trustee of Michigan State University, and to thank President Stanley, the administration, and my fellow trustees for such a warm welcome. It is an honor to be in this role, helping to lead a premier land grant university, the product of legislation signed by President Abraham Lincoln to expand educational opportunities. While I do not hold a degree from Michigan State—I got my start in Chicago first at a small liberal arts school, North Park College, and then at the University of Chicago Law School—after practicing law for several years, I received a tremendous education during my academic career here first as a lecturer and ultimately as a tenured full professor in the Law College. I have raised my children in East Lansing, immersed in all that campus life has to offer from music performances to art installations to livestock exhibitions to athletic events. I care deeply about the future of this institution. It has opened doors for so many students. Its outstanding professors have employed their talents to advance the sciences, economics, arts, agriculture, philosophy, engineering, and so much more. I am humbled to play a small role now as the university’s trustee. For the past few years, I have been a member of the University of Houston law faculty, which affords me an outsider’s perspective, informed by my academic research, publications, and teaching in legal ethics and gender equality. It is with this background that I’m ready to roll up my sleeves and get to work on all of the challenges and opportunities facing this institution. We are all here to make Michigan State a more inclusive, diverse, impactful, and safe university for the students, alumni, faculty and staff. An important aspect of this is how the university addresses the harms suffered by the survivors of Larry Nassar’s calculated abuse as well as the sexual misconduct that continues on this campus today. The recently published climate survey shows that significant numbers students experienced sexual harassment or assault during the 2018-19 academic year. This is a crisis. No one should endure sexual harassment or violence as a rite of passage during their university experience. This institution needs major structural reform to prevent these harms. We must create a culture of accountability, transparency, and due process to get to the heart of this issue. I commend the administration for conducting the climate survey and for making it public, and I know that the administration already is and we will all continue to be working together on reforms. I want the survivors to know that I and the Board will listen to them. For my part, as one initial step, I have asked that a component of my new trustee orientation, which began earlier this week, include formal training on trauma-informed communication and practices. I encourage all of my fellow trustees to complete this training, which should be incorporated as standard training for trustees and other campus leaders. As another initial step, regarding the issue about the release of privileged documents, I asked to look at them myself, and next week I will begin personally reviewing the privileged documents from the Nassar investigation. When I see those materials with my own eyes, I will have an informed basis to make recommendations about how they should be handled. These small steps are concrete efforts to honor my oath to this institution and to the Michigan State community. In just my first few days as trustee I already have heard from many of you—students, alumni, faculty, staff, and others. I want you to know that I am committed to listening and learning from everyone who is willing to help move the university forward. Thank you, again, to the administration and my fellow board members for all you’ve done to help me hit the ground running in the few days since the announcement of my appointment. I’m excited to work together with all of you.