Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley resigns

Samuel L. Stanley Jr. has resigned as president of Michigan State University. In a new video, Stanley says that he has lost trust and confidence in the school’s Board of Trustees and will be departing from MSU.

Some board members disagreed with Stanley over his leadership and decision-making.

More specifically, at issue is Stanley’s handling of the Title IX reporting regarding the pushing out of business school dean Sanjay Gupta, who abruptly resigned in August.

“I, like the Michigan State University Faculty Senate and Associated Students of Michigan State University, have lost confidence in the current actions of the Board of Trustees,” he said in the video, posted Thursday, Oct. 13.

Stanley’s contract requires that he gives 90 days notice before resignation.

The board has hired an outside law firm to investigate the handling of the Gupta case and other issues in the Office of Institutional Equity. A date for the case’s conclusion has yet to be announced.

Stanley was hired in 2019 after the fallout of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal. He is the third consecutive Michigan State president to be forced out due to handling of cases regarding sexual misconduct.

Lou Anna K. Simon was forced out in 2018 at the height of the Nassar case for her handling of it. Nassar, an MSU team doctor, was convicted of sexually assaulting athletes, mainly gymnasts.

After Simon, John Engler took over as interim president. He was forced out after his handling of the investigation including several insensitive remarks about Nassar’s victims.

In September, MSU’s board officers, representing the full board, told Stanley that he had lost the board’s trust and needed to step down.