Michigan State University Trustee Rema Vassar has sued current and former trustees and university officials, including President Kevin Guskiewicz, alleging they discriminated against her because of her race and sex and retaliated against her for speaking out on university issues.
The lawsuit, filed Oct. 20 in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, says the officials "orchestrated a campaign of intentional discrimination and retaliation" that cost Vassar committee assignments, trustee privileges and university-funded legal representation.
Vassar, who became the first Black woman to chair MSU's Board of Trustees in 2023, is seeking damages and court orders restoring those privileges and blocking enforcement of provisions in the board’s revised ethics
code.
Her attorney, Jon Marko, didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. An MSU spokesperson said the university doesn't comment on litigation.
What led to the lawsuit
The lawsuit follows years of conflict among MSU trustees over university leadership, transparency and the limits of their authority.
Vassar says in the lawsuit that she faced retaliation for advocating for the release of withheld documents from the sexual assault investigations of now-convicted former sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar, for calling for transparency and accountability after the February 2023 campus mass shooting and raising concerns about the university's treatment of Black students.
She also points to an October 2023 statement in which she attributed criticism of her leadership to racial and gender bias. Shortly after those statements, the board commissioned an outside law firm to investigate her and referred her to Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for removal from her elected office. Whitmer declined the board's request to remove her in 2025.
In her lawsuit, Vassar argues that the investigation was unfair and that white trustees whose conduct was comparable to hers faced fewer consequences.
The lawsuit also accuses MSU General Counsel Brian Quinn of cutting off university funding for her legal representation without the board vote she says university policy required.
Vassar alleges those actions damaged her reputation, left her with unreimbursed legal expenses and interfered with her ability to serve the voters who elected her.
The dispute continued this year when Vassar refused to sign a controversial ethics code, which with violations can lead to the loss of privileges ranging from complimentary football tickets to discretionary travel budgets. She was censured earlier this year for refusing to sign.
Debate over the policy intensified after Guskiewicz announced in May that he was leaving for Clemson University, citing board dysfunction as one of the reasons for his departure. Days later, Trustees Mike Balow and Vassar, who refused to sign the updated code, held a news conference calling it unconstitutional.
The lawsuit says public efforts to blame dissenting trustees for his departure fueled a wave of racist and threatening messages against Vassar. Her home address and telephone number were posted online, and police arranged additional patrols around her home, the complaint said.
Guskiewicz then reversed course in July and announced he would stay at MSU, noting that he had "productive conversations about the governance challenges I previously shared" with board leaders.
His return created an unprecedented leadership test, and disagreements over the code remained prominent at the university’s September board meeting.
The lawsuit names Guskiewicz, Quinn, Scott, Trustee Rebecca Bahar-Cook and former trustees Dan Kelly and Dianne Byrum, as individual defendants. It also names 10 unidentified people whom Vassar says participated in the conduct.
Vassar requests a jury trial, compensatory damages for reputational harm, emotional distress and unreimbursed legal expenses and punitive damages. The complaint does not specify a dollar amount.
She also seeks restoration of her committee assignments and trustee privileges and an end to interference with university-funded legal representation.
Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: MSU Trustee Rema Vassar takes years-long board fight to court
