MSU Interim President Woodruff’s January 2023 Spartan Community Letter

“Assuming the interim presidency at MSU has reinforced for both Tom and me just how great and welcoming the Spartan community is. We’re poised and ready to take the next step on behalf of this great university, our students, and the future of the state of Michigan. We’re honored to be a part of this community.” Woodruff talks about her relationship with the MSU Board of Trustees and says she looks forward to continued collaboration with the board to move the university forward. She points out the importance of the state budgeting process to MSU, too, where two-time MSU graduate Gov. Whitmer and 29 members of the 102nd Legislature are Spartans.  “These are exciting times for Michigan State. With a strong partnership with the state of Michigan we are going to be able to be transformative for Michigan.” Interim President Woodruff delivered the State of the University address on January 18 at the Wharton Center.  “In short, the state of the university remains sound as we consider our challenges together with our accomplishments and vision for the future. In the final analysis, it is our people — students, faculty and academic staff, support staff, leaders, alumni, and donors — who drive this great university’s ongoing excellence and impact.” You can watch the recording here. Woodruff shares the results of last spring’s Know More Survey. More than 11,500 MSU students, faculty and staff participated in MSU’s second online campus climate survey assessing the culture, perceptions and policies associated with relationship violence and sexual misconduct, or RVSM.  “We learned the prevalence of several types of victimization has declined since the first survey in 2019, together with improved awareness of our trainings and policies and gains in other measures of university climate and culture. Further, the majority of RVSM survivors who participated affirmed that the support they received from MSU was helpful and timely. The survey did reveal areas requiring more attention, including the higher rates of sexual harassment reported by our LGBTQIA+ community — for which we are focusing more specialized resources and prevention methods.” January gets the semester off to a busy start on campus, and Interim President Woodruff says she was privileged to participate in several activities surrounding the campus and community celebrations of the Martin Luther King Jr. national holiday. That set the campus stage for February’s observance of Black History Month, featuring the College of Osteopathic Medicine’s William G. Anderson Lecture Series, Slavery to Freedom: An American Odyssey — now in its 23rd year.  “And to bring this message full circle, next month’s Board of Trustees meeting will be the first business session for Trustee Rema Vassar as chairperson — making her own history as the first Black woman to lead the MSU board. MSU doesn’t just celebrate diversity, we are diverse. We support diversity. We know that our strength comes from that diversity. I’m excited about all the ways in which we live out those principles.” Keep up with Michigan State University Interim President Teresa K. Woodruff on her social media channels: Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn and at president.msu.edu. Listen to “MSU Today with Russ White” on the radio and on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your shows.