In The Chair: President
Protest
Senator Bayer, under her constitutional right of protest (Art. 4, Sec. 18), protested against the disapproval of the gubernatorial appointment of Michael Ryan.
Senator Bayer’s statement is as follows:
I was hoping for an opportunity to speak before the vote, but my colleague Dr. Michael Ryan has been a valued member of the Ferris State faculty and community for more than 40 years. He has been recognized with the James M. Davenport Memorial Outstanding Leadership and Advocacy Award. He is more than qualified to serve on the Ferris State University Board.
He has the education credentials, has his Ph.D. from the SUNY School of Medicine and has worked in education his entire adult life. He was a professor at Ferris from 1987 to his retirement in 2017. He knows Ferris. He knows the students and their needs—he knows the administration, their strengths and their weaknesses. He knows the challenges the university is facing—keeping costs affordable, strengthening relationships with Michigan community colleges and the K-12 schools, particularly in underserved, rural areas of Michigan. He knows about maintaining a diverse student body, including those with military experience—increasing enrollment, retention, graduation rates, and more; his goals as the board member in the document that we all had the opportunity to read—he wants to give back to the university that gave him decades of learning and happiness in his life. He plans to work on strengthening university relationships with community colleges and schools, particularly for those rural communities that we care about on that side of the state—increasing enrollment, retention, and graduation. He’s an integral part of the community that surrounds Ferris and would bring an important connection and support to that relationship.
It is more than disappointing to see someone so qualified and so motivated be rejected from this important position—it’s absurd. He is a qualified candidate. Disregarding all the work he has done for his academic and local community is not just wrong, it defeats what we are actually trying to accomplish—to provide the oversight and qualified, intelligent support to our critical educational institutions so that we can keep our schools a place where college students want to go—here, in Michigan—and where the staff wants to be there. There’s enough staff, they have the knowledge and capabilities to give students what they need to succeed. It’s just worse than disappointing; it’s just a dereliction of duty.
Senator Lauwers moved that the Senate disapprove the following appointment:
Western Michigan University Board of Trustees
Mr. Jon B. Hoadley of 2720 Parkview Avenue, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49008, county of Kalamazoo, succeeding Ron Kitchens who has resigned, appointed for a term commencing February 18, 2022 and expiring December 31, 2024.
The question being on the disapproval of the said appointment to office,
The Senate disapproved of the appointment to office, a majority of the members serving voting therefor, as follows: