Live reporting by
Perry Sylvester
The board met for their regular public meeting, only to find business-as-usual disrupted by public comments on two issues absent from the agenda: new contracts for employee members of the Wayne Academic Union and divestment from companies with ties to Israel.
Perry Sylvester
@PerrySylvester6
Hey, Detroit! Friday, 4/26, at 3 PM I live tweet the WSU Board of Governors meeting for @DetDocumenters #DETdocumenters & media partners @BridgeDet313 @chalkbeatDET @freep @metrotimes @MichiganPublic @media_outlier @PlanetDetroit @wdet @wxyzdetroit
11:33 AM Apr 25, 2024 CDT
Meeting held in room 1540 at Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, 259 Mack. In theory, parking available in Structure #7 located across the street..but we will see what the football gods allowšš
I don't see any info on remote access for the meeting & quick scan of by-laws doesn't address it. The homepage for the WSU Board is here:
bog.wayne.edu/about
Here is the link to current board members; some pretty familiar faces, like former State Supreme Court Chief Justice Marilyn Kelly.
bog.wayne.edu/members
Friday, 4/26, will be a busy day. In addition to the NFL Draft *ahem* public meetings run the full day WSU.
Below is a more detailed listing of what's covered. I note that each item links to a pdf. The list is available at homepage via the "meetings" tab
Fire marshal is here, so we are being let in as people giving public comments leave *sigh*
Dr Kess Balllentine @BallentineKess was kind enough to offer a synopsis of why so many WAU members are here
@BallentineKess Faculty member saying faculty members have signed statements of support for WSU divestmentā¦asking for those in attendance who signed to stand
@BallentineKess A WSU alum speaking in support of student call for divestmentā¦points to WSU activists had been involved with divestment for South Africa and it was effective
@BallentineKess Another public comment pointed to the issue of known support regarding genocideā¦tuition for what?
@BallentineKess Okay, initial public comments doneā¦but still lots of people in the hallā¦now at 3:50 it is biz as usualā¦pass/approve consent agenda, now faculty awards
@BallentineKess Soā¦lots of passion spilling out, with the the portion on faculty recognition getting interrupted with unfurling of a banner and coordinating chants
@BallentineKess Interesting that right now one of awards is talking about a study on racial group identity and indigenous peoples
@BallentineKess So, I broke thread as things got wild ā¦ hit the post above, āwe see through the buzzwords, for more info on the student divestment protest
@BallentineKess Moves to community partnerships ā¦ emphasis on metrics, which is something peer institutions donāt always calculate same things
@BallentineKess Not everything is joyful and triumphant ā¦total number of community partnerships flat or declining
@BallentineKess This gentleman is pitching the planned approach to increase community partnershipsā¦speaking about a āconciergeā approach
@BallentineKess Soā¦public-private partnershipsā¦entrepreneur money leveraging (publicly funded) WSU brains.. would be interesting to follow the long-term flow of who profits
@BallentineKess Budget committee had discussion on campus housing room & board ratesā¦tables available in online docsā¦something is going up by 3%
@BallentineKess Tuition and related fees for medical students will go up as wellā¦School of Medicine MD program onlyā¦I believe amount is 5%ā¦details should be in online documents
@BallentineKess So, this is meeting with lots to think about. I wonder about the choice of locationā¦such a small room
@BallentineKess If anything in this coverage is inaccurate, please email documenters@outliermedia.org with āCorrection Requestā in the subject line