A professor raised concerns about the ethics of a board chair. That led to him being tarred as a racist.
www.thecollegefix.com
Michigan State University will pay $300,000 in attorneys’ fees and damages to end a lawsuit brought by its own professor against two trustees who called him “racist” for using the term “mob rule.”
The State News obtained a copy of the
settlement agreement between Professor Jack Lipton and trustees Dennis Denno and Rema Vassar.
Professor Lipton (
pictured,
left)
sued the trustees after they appeared to have organized a campaign against the neuroscientist for criticizing Vassar’s (
pictured,
right) allegedly unethical behavior as board chair.
According to the lawsuit, Vassar accepted gifts from a university donor, including traveling on a private jet. She also appeared in an ad endorsing a former trustee’s private wealth management business.
However, she had organized supporters, including sorority sisters, to attend the meeting. In March 2024, Vassar did
resign as board chair.
“When any meeting attendee spoke in support of holding Vassar accountable for her actions as outlined in [Trustee Brianna] Scott’s letter, Vassar supporters interrupted and jeered them and attempted to prevent them from completing their statements,” the lawsuit stated.
According to the lawsuit, the trustees worked with student groups “to label Dr. Lipton a racist, publicly attack him in the media, post defamatory letters about him on social media and other public platforms, and file complaints with MSU’s internal civil rights office as well as its external accrediting body accusing Dr. Lipton of race discrimination.”
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