Kyle Melinn, “You can’t handle a little critique? You’re not the leader MSU needs,” from The City Pulse, June 3, 2026.

Victor DiRita, “Duty of loyalty is governance 101 for university board members,” published in The Lansing State Journal, June 4, 2026.

MANAGING EDITOR’S TAKE: Mellin’s perspective comes from the community’s view of a university. DiRita’s take is infused with neoliberal perspectives on a university. Increasingly, university insiders embrace and express similar views.

Commentary: DiRita’s argument makes perfect sense if you view public and nonprofit organizations through a neoliberal lens. Otherwise, it doesn’t. The issue here is that a president imposed a corporate, bureaucratic approach to leading a public institution with publicly elected board members. When met with resistance, the solution to “that problem” was to require board members to sign a loyalty pledge … with an “or else” consequence. That is a horrible solution in its own right, and to make matters worse, it is a “solution” to a misidentified problem. It is an example of how to “run a place” like a business without either understanding or appreciating the business it is in.