DETROIT — Michigan State University Trustee Rema Vassar is threatening to sue the university for years of alleged discrimination she's faced as a board member and as its former chairperson, according to a "pre-litigation demand" document released to The Detroit News through a public records request.

Vassar, through her attorney Martin Shepherd, detailed in the 20-plus-page document how she believes the university and her fellow trustees repeatedly violated the Detroit Democrat's civil rights, including her First Amendment and due process rights, and repeatedly broke MSU board policy to attack her.

The letter dated May 17 was sent to President Kevin Guskiewicz, Board Chair Brianna Scott, D-Muskegon, and General Counsel Brian Quinn and asks Guskiewicz to respond to the letter by 5 p.m. June 17. If he does not respond in a "meaningful" manner, her attorneys would file a lawsuit in federal court against the university, its board and specific trustees whom Vassar accuses of personally discriminating against her, according to the document.

Vassar did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but previously told The Detroit News via text that the university expected her to sue because she refused to pledge she would never file a lawsuit against the university.

Shepherd said in the letter that Vassar was seeking an undisclosed amount of money that would be confidential and requesting the university to cover her past legal fees accumulated during investigations of her and lawsuits against her ― which the letter said could be over $25 million. She is also demanding the restoration of her trustee benefits that she lost after refusing to sign the board's new Code of Ethics and Conduct, among other requests.

The letter also asks that the revised code of conduct be rescinded, or there be a specific carveout to exclude Vassar.

Vassar has consistently made headlines throughout her time at the university. She was the first Black woman to be elected chair of the board in January 2023 and has stood up for Black students and pushed for documents related to the university's handling of serial sexual abuser and MSU sports doctor Larry Nassar to be made public.

This latest infighting among board members at Michigan State comes as the university is preparing to search for its next president after Guskiewicz was announced as the next president of South Carolina's Clemson University. In his goodbye letter to the community, Guskiewicz said the university's board's dysfunction was his main reason for leaving.

Guskiewicz remains MSU's president after the announcement, and no interim leader has been chosen yet. Clemson leaders said a start date for President-elect Guskiewicz hasn't been finalized.

Vassar faces controversy as a trustee and board chair

She has often come under fire from her fellow trustees for allegations of misconduct brought by Scott and was the subject of an investigation costing the university over $2 million. The investigation, conducted by the Washington D.C.-based law firm Miller & Chevalier, found evidence she had broken the board's Code of Ethics and Conduct.

Vassar stepped down as board chair after the investigation but disputed the law firm's findings. Vassar said the investigation was part of "a larger campaign and agenda to marginalize, silence, discredit and shame Black women."

Her attorneys, E. Powell Miller and Kevin O'Shea with the Miller Law Firm, issued a 22-page response to the investigation's findings. They said that "while the report is purported to be 'independent,' it is not; Miller & Chevalier’s investigation was conducted without providing due process to Dr. Vassar; the investigation and report are incomplete with regard to essential matters; and the report’s findings and recommendations are unsupported and profoundly flawed."

She and fellow trustees Dennis Denno and Mike Balow often disagreed with the university's administration and the board's majority on several of Guskiewicz's priorities.

She wrote a guest commentary in Bridge Michigan calling for the university to reinstate diversity, equity and inclusion practices after a judge found President Donald Trump's Department of Education order to ban them were unconstitutional and vague. Guskiewicz called the commentary inaccurate and misleading, and Scott said it had several mischaracterizations. Neither saw the column before it was published, they told the media after the board's February meeting.

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