Overview
- Clemson’s Board of Trustees named Kevin Guskiewicz its 16th president on Wednesday and he will leave Michigan State University in the coming weeks.
- Guskiewicz said discouraging behavior by some MSU trustees and the misuse of confidential information helped drive his decision to depart.
- MSU’s board had voted earlier this month to negotiate a contract that would nearly double his base pay to $2 million, but Guskiewicz will take a lower reported base salary of $1.2 million on a five-year deal at Clemson.
- His resignation activates contract clauses that cut MSU athletic director J. Batt’s buyout in half and creates near-term uncertainty for Spartan Ventures and athletic operations.
- The departure adds to a pattern of leadership turnover at MSU and in the Big Ten and is likely to raise pay demands and complicate the next presidential search while prompting renewed calls to change how trustees are chosen.