Courtesy of MTU

HOUGHTON — There’s time allotted at each meeting of the Michigan Tech Board of Trustees for the public to address the board. Usually, it passes in silence. 

Not so last Friday. Four speakers–a community resident, a graduate student, a professor and a former dean–stepped up during public comments to talk about their pressing concerns.

Three were criticizing the university’s response to a display that a conservative student group called Young Americans for Freedom put up recently on campus. A purported Berlin Wall memorial, it turned into a public message board for hate speech, including a drawing of a gun aimed at a slashed-through transgender symbol.

Michigan Tech’s administration did not order the display removed or discipline the students responsible, and they defended their action as protection of freedom of speech. The administration also removed a teaching professor of social sciences, Carl Blair, from his classroom and reprimanded him for allegedly calling the perpetrators insulting names in class.

Ian Norwood, a PhD student in physics, expressed deep concern over the safety of gay and transgender students on campus. Several messages written on the Berlin Wall memorial targeted them. He told the board that there is an unsafe atmosphere on campus and an uptick in hate speech.

“I urge the administration to take action to address this situation,” the graduate student said.

Discussing the Berlin Wall incident, he pointed out that Michigan Tech ranked first in the nation in the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)’s latest college free speech rankings. “The national free expression group is now criticizing the university it ranked number one, for punishing a professor for using his own right to free speech to criticize a student demonstration,” he went on to say. FIRE issued the criticism after Young Americans for Freedom posted an audio clip online of Blair in class, allegedly calling members of YAF homophobic, dumb and racist.

Nancy Langston, a distinguished professor of environmental history in the Department of Social Sciences, underscored Norwood’s comments. “I am here to speak about faculty concerns regarding our freedom of speech in the classroom,” she said. “Just this morning, a colleague asked me to tell you how worried, scared and unsupported faculty feel on campus now. We look forward to a statement from the administration clarifying that, in FIRE’s words, that ‘our expressive and academic freedom rights remain intact.'”

David Hemmer, who was removed as dean of Tech’s College of Sciences and Arts in June, expressed strong support for Langston’s and Norwood’s statements. He is now a professor of mathematical sciences at Michigan Tech.

Frediericke Gast, a longtime resident of East Street near campus, told the board about her objections to the university’s plans to build a parking lot on nearby 7th Avenue. She said it would be too far for students and faculty to walk in bad weather and would take green space away from residents.

She also said the board needs more local members. All but one of the eight trustees are from downstate.

High Financial and Research Ratings

Moody’s, a firm that rates the creditworthiness of companies and governments, has given the university an A1 rating, its highest financial stability rating, reported Nick Stevens, chief financial officer and vice president for administration at Michigan Tech. “Assets are growing; liabilities are remaining flat,” he said. “We are floating. We are not sinking.”

David Reed, vice president for research, had exciting news for the board. The Carnegie Foundation, American Council on Education and Indiana University are revising their Carnegie Higher Education Classification System, releasing new classifications in early 2025, he said.

Very High Research institutions (R1)–the highest classification–will be defined as ones having more than $50 million in reported research expenditures and more than 70 research doctorates granted. “In 2023, we are reporting $102.7 million in research expenditures and 86 research doctorates granted, so Michigan Tech will be R1 at the classification update in 2025,” said Reed.

In Other Business

• Trustees elected Steven Tomaszewski chair of the board for 2024 and Jon Jipping vice chair.

• They appointed Theresa Ahlborn a professor emerita and Stephen Hackney professor emeritus. Emerita and emeritus status is awarded to retiring professors who have had distinguished careers.

Ahlborn is now professor emerita of civil, environmental, and geospatial engineering, and Stephen is professor emeritus of materials science and engineering.

Ahlborn’s research included the use of ultra high-performance concrete for bridges and remote sensing technologies for bridge condition assessment. She was named WTS Woman of the Year in Michigan. WTS is a network of over 9,000 transportation professionals.

Hackney developed a strong program in electric vehicle battery technologies. He focused his research on the properties of lithium, a material that enables batteries to charge quickly and hold a charge well, but sometimes causes safety issues. His goal was to help create the next generation of better, safer batteries.

• Jamey Anderson, assistant director of marine operations at the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), gave a report on the GLRC’s buoys program. Developed in 2010 by Guy Meadows, founding director of the GLRC, the buoys are manufactured, deployed and maintained by the GLRC. They are used for modeling, forecasting and climate decision-making, Anderson said. No other organization deploys as many buoys on the Great Lakes as Michigan Tech. he added.

• Gordon Parker, who holds the John and Cathie Drake Endowed Chair in Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, reported on his marine energy grids research.

• Presidents of the Undergraduate and Graduate Student Governments reported on their programs and plans, and Robert Hutchinson, president of the University Senate, updated the board on that body’s activities.