- Michigan State's Board of Trustees held their first board meeting of the 2024-2025 school year on Friday.
- A group of faculty hoping to have their union recognized by the university gathered in protest across the street.
- Video shows the protest, thoughts of protesters, and response from the University.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
As the Board of Trustees tries to turn the page toward the future, protesters were at the first board meeting of the school year.
"I came to MSU in 2014," Zach Kaiser said.
Heading into his tenth year of teaching at the university, Associat Professor of Graphic Design Zach Kaiser is a passionate member of the Spartan community.
"It's been an amazing 10 years, I will say," he said. "I love my job. I love my students."
But it hasn't been perfect. Kaiser was one of dozens of faculty protesting outside of the Board of Trustees' meeting on Friday urging the board to officially recognize the Union of Tenure System Faculty. Union members say they've been working toward recognition since January.
Kaiser says Friday's protest, and their comments at the board meeting, are an attempt to show their cause is not going away.
"Part of what we're here to do is show that it's not losing its energy and that's really, really valuable," Kaiser said. "This isn't over and we're not going to just sort of fall apart."
I reached out to the University for comment on the situation, and a spokesperson provided me with the following statement:
"Currently, the university, in good faith, is attempting to come to a mutual agreement about a proposed bargaining unit. We are working collaboratively with the union on that and all processes are being followed by the university."
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