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New sports arena, other projects OK’d during MSU’s first board meeting of school year

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New sports arena, other projects OK’d during MSU’s first board meeting of school year

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EAST LANSING — A new sports arena and more developers could be coming to Michigan State University’s campus in the next few years.

At Friday’s Board of Trustees meeting, trustees approved a proposal to start planning the arena, which they said would make MSU more competitive in athletics and would allow local developers to start building near the arena.

But that wasn’t the only big decision the trustees made Friday. A new academic building to educate students about the future of climate change and plant science was approved, and MSU’s Child Development Laboratory will be expanding again, this time into the city of Lansing.

The first regularly scheduled meeting of the 2024-25 academic year was held Friday at MSU’s Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center and lasted for about 3 hours.

Outside, the organizing committee for the union of tenure system faculty held a protest to bring attention to the months-long process of unionizing and what they consider the administration’s purposeful stonewalling. Inside, students calling for the university to sever financial ties with Israel amid the Gaza War silently held up signs that read “Divest Now.”

Here’s a quick look at what happened during the MSU board meeting.

New sports arena on campus

The trustees approved planning for a 4,000-seat arena that would allow the university to remain competitive in the Big Ten Conference, the board resolution said. Most other Big Ten institutions have facilities that can host regional events, and because MSU doesn’t, the resolution said the school would not be able to host home competitions, putting the school at a competitive disadvantage.

While the focus of the project would be the arena, other additions could include “buildings to support academic programs, a hotel to augment the Kellogg Center, mixed-use retail/office/housing, market rate housing and parking to serve the site,” the resolution said.

MSU plans for the new facility to be built on the former Cherry Lane site, south of the Student Recreation and Wellness Center, which is still under construction.

There were no details about the overall cost of the project. However, the resolution said MSU plans to pay for the arena with event revenue and philanthropy as a funding source, and developers will pay for any buildings that are not MSU-owned on the site.

Child Development Lab will move into Lansing

The trustees voted to approve an expansion of MSU’s Child Development Laboratory into the city of Lansing. The lab has locations in East Lansing and Haslett now, and the board resolution said this expansion would “help children most at risk within the community and provide capacity to educate additional teachers, in response to the state-wide (sic) teacher shortage.”

The Child Development Laboratory is open to the public, offering full-day preschool programs for children ages birth to kindergarten. The program has received over $4 million in federal and state funding to expand their facilities.

The project summary said “the Lansing site will create opportunities for community outreach and engagement, support local economic development, and increase MSU presence in the City of Lansing.”

New plant and environmental sciences building

Trustees voted to approve the construction of a new Plant and Environmental Sciences building. The planned facility will be 200,000 square feet and located at the corner of Farm Lane and Wilson Road. This facility will provide critical laboratory space to advance MSU’s leadership in food security and climate adaptation, MSU officials said in a press release after the vote.

“We are grateful that the Board of Trustees has approved this high-priority investment in MSU’s current — and future — excellence in plant and environmental sciences,” Douglas Gage, MSU’s vice president for Research and Innovation said during the board meeting. “These disciplines are increasingly important in the face of challenges induced by climate change, and this addition to MSU’s research infrastructure will allow the university to build on its success.”

The project’s budget is $200 million, and “substantial completion” is expected in January 2027, according to the board resolution.

Faculty protest for unionization

Members of the Union of Tenure System Faculty organizing committee protested on the Brody East lawn during the board meeting. About 100 faculty and supporters gathered to bring awareness to the unionizing efforts, and their chants could be heard from inside the meeting room.

Organizers say university administration has continually refused to recognize the union. In November 2023, union organizers told administration that 54% of tenured and tenure system faculty signed cards in favor of the union. College Factual, a website that tracks information about universities, says there are about 1,700 tenured and tenure-system faculty at MSU.

In December 2021, the trustees approved a neutrality resolution. The resolution states that union organizers may present a proposed bargaining unit to the university, and the university must accept the bargaining unit as long as it is “reasonable.” MSU official have said librarians should not be included in the tenure system faculty union, but union organizers say they should because librarians are included in the same employee handbook.

Union organizers say that the administration continues to violate the terms of the agreement. Board Chair Dan Kelly, R-Clarkston, said during a press scrum after the meeting that he believes the terms have been followed as agreed on in 2021.

Students continue their call for divestment

Since October, student protestors have attended board meetings to call for the board to divest from financial ties with Israel due to the ongoing war in Gaza. This meeting, they held a silent protest, holding signs that read “Divest Now.”

Students have committed to attending all of the board meetings. In June, a student protest caused trustees to end the in-person board meeting and continue it online.

Students and faculty who are calling for divestment have said the Board of Trustees is going against its own bylaws by refusing to divest. The official investment policy adopted by the board states “the Board will exhibit social conscience in the administration of the University’s investments.”

Philip Zecher, MSU’s Chief Investment Officer, said during a media event that the university has no ability to control what it invests in. Outside investment managers working on behalf of MSU choose groups of investments based on various criteria, such as the age of the bond.

No limit on public comment

Trustee Dianne Byrum, D-East Lansing, said that although the board was considering limiting the amount of public comment during meetings, they wouldn’t be going forward on that issue after public responses.

Kelly told members of the press after the meeting the trustees looked at how other universities regulated public comment during meeting.

“The other universities limit public comment far more than we did,” he said. “I don’t think we really have a problem… It’s not about time, sometimes (the comments) are repeated and that can be a little bit of a waste of time but I don’t perceive that there’s any real problem and I think the board came to that conclusion.”

Contact Sarah Atwood at satwood@lsj.com, or follow her on X @sarahmatwood.

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