MSU faculty call for vote of no confidence in MSU President Simon

EAST LANSING - A call for an emergency meeting of Michigan State University's Faculty Senate for a vote of no confidence in President Lou Anna Simon was raised during a University Council meeting Tuesday afternoon. 

The topic was raised by Anna Pegler-Gordon and Andaluna Borcila, both professors in MSU's James Madison College. 

"I don't think we can move on as an institution from this without President Simon's resignation and having a more transparent investigation," Pegler-Gordon said.

Whether to hold an emergency meeting fell to Academic Governance's steering committee, which agreed to meet immediately after University Council's meeting to discuss the request. That drew applause from several of the close to 100 faculty and students assembled. 

Ultimately, the steering committee opted instead to put the question to Academic Congress, a body that encompasses some 2,200 MSU faculty. An email seeking their input is expected to go out Wednesday. If a majority support having Faculty Senate take a vote of no confidence in Simon, it'll go back to the steering committee, which would then work to set up the Faculty Senate meeting. 

The deadline for voting is expected to be Saturday.

Faculty Senate is a much smaller body than Academic Congress, composed of elected representatives from each college.

While less direct, the process approved follows university bylaws, said Gary Hoppenstand, secretary for Academic Governance. Several steering committee members also argued it was important to have as many faculty members weighing in as possible.

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While it wasn't what she and Borcila requested, Pegler-Gordon said she's confident a majority of faculty will support the call for a no-confidence vote.

Michigan State's University Council is a group of faculty, staff and students who discuss issues pertinent to the university. It does not have the power to remove Simon, a role held exclusively by the university's Board of Trustees. University Council is the top of the academic governance pyramid, with Faculty Senate and similar groups falling beneath it.

Simon did not attend Wednesday's meeting. MSU Provost June Youatt delivered a statement on her behalf, noting that Simon was watching via livestream the sentencing hearing for former university doctor Larry Nassar.

"I have said now is the time to focus on voices of victims," Youatt said, reading Simon's statement. Simon wrote in her statement that she's limited public comment amid Nassar's sentencing.

"I will have more to say after sentencing," Youatt read from Simon's statement.

Prior to reading Simon's statement, Youatt grew visibly emotional describing the sense of sorrow that's gripped campus as survivors of Nassar's sexual abuse told their stories as part of his sentencing.

Speaking to those assembled, Youatt said they likely "could have never imaged in your life there would be this kind of shadow over a place we care so much about."

(In this video, MSU President Lou Anna Simon talks to the media on thesecond day of Larry Nassar's sentencing. Story continues below.)

Simon has faced calls to resign from several lawmakers, among them State Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing, and state Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr., D-Meridian Township.

Last week, MSU's student government passed a resolution chastising the university's administration for failing to properly respond to the Nassar scandal. The letter didn't expressly call on Simon to resign, but it did call for a change of leadership at MSU. 

Despite mounting pressure on Simon to step down, seven of the university's eight trustees have expressed continued support for her.

The lone dissenter is Mitch Lyons, who broke with the majority of the board in a statement released Saturday. On Friday, the board put out a joint statement affirming continued support for Simon. 

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.