LANSING, Mich. (May 9, 2023) – In a letter to the Michigan State University (MSU) Board of Trustees, Michigan Agri-Business Association President Chuck Lippstreu today called on the Board to address the lack of agricultural representation on the MSU Presidential Search Committee. “We are deeply concerned that today’s announcement of the MSU Presidential Search Committee includes no voices directly representing agricultural production,” Lippstreu wrote to the Board. “The selection of a new president to lead MSU is a decision with profound implications for the future of Michigan’s agriculture sector, one of the top economic engines and job creators in our state. It is critical that Michigan agriculture be included among the voices helping to select the next leader of the university.” “To conduct a credible search for the next president of MSU – America’s pioneer Land Grant University – Michigan agriculture needs to be directly represented on the Search Committee. We respectfully ask that the MSU Board reevaluate this serious oversight and include representation from the Michigan agriculture community on this important Committee,” he wrote. MSU is the nation’s pioneer Land Grant University and the first institution of higher learning in the United States to teach scientific agriculture – serving as a model for the land-grant system launched across America. Excluding Michigan agriculture from the search for a new MSU president disregards this important legacy. # # #
