Detroit News business columnist Daniel Howes believes one result of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal should be to reform the way trustees are chosen to govern Michigan State, the University of Michigan, and Wayne State University.
“We’re the only state in the country that elects the trustees to our three major universities on a statewide, partisan ballot,” he said.
He said that means partisan politics “plays itself out” in who forms the university boards.
“And the parties particularly are invested in this, because it gives them some measure of control in some of the state’s largest institutions,” he said.
The people running for these positions, Howes said, often don’t have the experiences needed to run a multi-billion dollar public institution.
“Yet, there they are in making decisions and overseeing a vast bureaucracy that is fueled, in part, by public money,” he said.
Listen above to hear why Howes thinks the governor should be the one to pick trustees at Michigan State, Michigan, and Wayne State.
For more from Howes, you can read his recent column for the Detroit News on this topic.
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