EAST LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – A new account of the controversy surrounding Michigan State University’s (MSU) board communications suggests the university’s outgoing president, Kevin Guskiewicz, and not the trustees, was behind the much-debated gag order in the updated “code of conduct.”

The policy limits how information is shared with the public by the trustees and became a source of tension between trustees and university leadership, with critics arguing the policy reduced transparency and made board oversight more difficult.

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According to reporting by columnist Nolan Finley of The Detroit News, the communication restrictions that frustrated some trustees originated with Guskiewicz himself.

For months, criticism has focused on whether the MSU Board of Trustees was too involved in university operations and too vocal about their opinions. Finley’s reporting indicates the communications restrictions on those trustees were developed by Guskiewicz and were backed by five trustees whom Finley describes as reliable supporters of the president’s agenda.

The revelation adds another layer to the ongoing debate over governance at MSU, suggesting that a policy now blamed for creating tension and controversy between trustees, administrators, faculty, alumni, and other university stakeholders actually originated with a president who is on his way out the door.