UNC chancellor is leaving for Michigan State. How do the universities compare?
When UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz confirmed three weeks ago that he was “weighing” an opportunity to become the next president of Michigan State University, the news prompted varied reactions on social media — including questions about how the two universities compare to one another.
Guskiewicz was hired by the Michigan State Board of Trustees Friday during a special meeting.
There are similarities between the schools: Both are public, high-level research universities that serve tens of thousands of students, though Michigan State is slightly larger in terms of enrollment.
And both universities have seen their fair share of controversies, as well as claims of political meddling in university affairs, over the past several years.
As Guskiewicz prepares to leave Chapel Hill, here are more comparisons of UNC and Michigan State.
Similarities, differences between UNC and Michigan State
▪ Public research universities: Both UNC and Michigan State are public universities with “R1,” or “very high research activity” designations in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education.
UNC System President Peter Hans told reporters last month that “it’s no surprise that [Guskiewicz] would be on anyone’s shortlist elsewhere in the country to strengthen public higher education.”
▪ First of their kinds: UNC, one of three public universities that claim to be the nation’s first, is older than Michigan State, having been founded in 1789 and welcoming its first students in 1795. Michigan State was established in 1855 and was later designated as one the country’s first land-grant universities, or those historically devoted to teaching agriculture, science, engineering and related subject areas.
▪ Enrollment: Michigan State enrolls more students, with more than 40,000 undergraduates and 50,000 students total. UNC enrolls more than 31,000 students total, including almost 20,000 undergraduates.
▪ Rankings: UNC outranks Michigan State in the U.S. News & World Report ranking of the best national universities. UNC ranks No. 22 overall and No. 4 for public universities. Michigan State ranks No. 60 overall and No. 28 for public universities.
▪ Campus tragedy: Both universities have experienced on-campus shootings in 2023. At Michigan State, three students died and five others were injured in February. At UNC, a professor died after a graduate student allegedly shot him in a campus lab building in August. The university was also placed on lockdown in September after a man allegedly brandished a gun in an on-campus bagel shop.
Controversies at UNC and Michigan State
Both universities have seen their names in the headlines plenty over the past several years, often for controversies or scandals.
Among several controversies at UNC since he assumed the chancellorship in 2019, Guskiewicz has seen the university through:
- The aftermath of his predecessor, Carol Folt, ordering the removal of the remainder of the Confederate monument that had stood on campus for more than a century. The move followed Guskiewicz through much of his early years as chancellor, including when one of his vice chancellors was part of a group that approved a $2.5 million settlement with the Sons of Confederate Veterans over the statue’s fate. Guskiewicz has said he did not direct the vice chancellor to negotiate that settlement, which was later overturned by a judge.
- The COVID-19 pandemic, including opting to bring students back in August 2020, only to send them home a week later due to rising case numbers.
- The controversy over whether journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones would be offered tenure as a professor at the university’s journalism school. Guskiewicz later approved a settlement for $74,999 to avoid potential legal action by Hannah-Jones.
- The U.S. Supreme Court this summer striking down UNC’s race-conscious admissions policy in a landmark ruling on affirmative action in higher education.
UNC-Chapel Hill and the larger UNC System have, for several years, been criticized for perceived political interference and partisan influences on their respective governing boards. Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, last year assembled a commission to assess governance across the system and suggest changes.
At Michigan State, where trustees are chosen by voters in statewide elections, Guskiewicz will take the helm of a university experiencing similar turmoil.
The university has been in the national spotlight over the Larry Nassar scandal. The former MSU sports doctor, who also worked for USA Gymnastics, was convicted in 2018 of sexually assaulting seven gymnasts and other athletes. Former MSU President Lou Anna Simon resigned hours after Nassar was sentenced in the case.
Former MSU President Samuel Stanley Jr., whom Guskiewicz will succeed as the university’s next permanent president, resigned in 2022, saying he had lost confidence in the university’s Board of Trustees.
This year, as the university has been searching for a new president, infighting among that board and other controversies, including the firing of the university’s head football coach over sexual harassment allegations, led Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to publicly criticize the school and its leaders.
“This university has been rocked by scandal after scandal with no clear unified leadership or direction and tragically no accountability either,” Whitmer, a Democrat and MSU graduate, said in an October statement, according to the AP. “Right now, there are too many questions and not enough answers. The university owes it to students, alumni and our entire state to get to the bottom of this and take appropriate action.”
In written answers Guskiewicz provided to questions from MSU faculty in mid-November — first answered anonymously, then reported by the university’s student newspaper, The State News, and since obtained by The News & Observer — Guskiewicz said he would only take the job at MSU “without undue interference” from the university’s governing board.
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 3:06 PM.
