Media

Changes from the Top: A Tale of Two Magazines and What MSU Alumni Get to See

August 24, 2018, 5:42 PM by  Alan Stamm

Michigan State University mails Spartan magazine around the world each quarter to let 60,000 alumni and donors read about campus research, faculty and student achievements, and other reasons to support their alma mater.

The latest issue, which originally focused on the tawdry scandal that continues shaking MSU, now adds to the controversy with changed content and a cover (right above) reportedly dictated by temporary President John Engler as a replacement for three bolder choices from editor Paula Davenport, including the one at left.

Student journalist Anna Nichols has the scoop, with these images, at the campus paper:

The State News obtained the original special issue of the MSU alumni magazine from someone close to the administration of Interim President John Engler. This version, solely focused on ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse and issues surrounding it, was not distributed to alumni.

Engler scrapped the three potential covers, according the Detroit Free Press, of a woman donning teal lipstick, a single teal ribbon and a wall of 60 teal ribbons -- all bearing the title “Finding Our Way” -- from a special issue of the MSU alumni magazine.

A Spartan green background, with a quote from Engler praising the university for having emerged from its "most difficult challenge in its history," replaced these covers. . . .

The original magazine's essays chronicle the history of Nassar’s abuse, gender inequality, the psychological effect of sexual abuse and a culture of silence. The narratives tell stories of the impact these topics have had on alumni and their ability to look back fondly on the school. . . .

The new magazine paints a golden year for Spartans building up their community and bettering the academic world. It cites work creating housing for families in Michigan, expanding the College of Music building, a medical mission to Iraq and the hope that MSU’s Facility for Rare Isotope Beams becomes "the world’s most-powerful rare isotope beams facility when it becomes fully operational in 2022."


One of three rejected cover designs.
(Photos from proofs posted by The State News)

Teal was used originally to match lapel ribbons worn by Nassar survivors and their supporters.

Reactions are predictable. 

"I was angry after I read the edition that came in the mail and now I'm even more angry!" Sharon Parks of Holt, Mich., posts on Facebook. She's a past president and CEO at the Michigan League for Public Policy.

Another alumna, Shari Dann of Laingsburg in Shiawassee County, comments on the same discussion thread Friday afternoon: "I'm mad about this. As an alumnus, I do not understand why one person has the power to dictate over alumni."

"No more solicitation calls. No more cheerful Facebook posts. No more business as usual at Board of Trustees meetings," 1996 journalism graduate Louise Knott Ahern is quoted as saying in The State News. "On behalf of survivors, we must demand to know: How did MSU get this so, so wrong?"   

Kary Moss, former executive dirtector of the Michigan ACLU branch, posts that the move "once again [shows] the total insularity of the MSU leadership, not to mention tone-deafness."

Spartan magazine, created in 1983, is intended is "to reflect positively both on Michigan State University and on its alumni," the MSU Alumni Association says. In addition to its members, the glossy publication goes to state legislators, professors and administrative officers. 


The final cover draft that got thumbs-down.

Nichols' coverage, posted three days before her paper resumes regular publication, adds:

The new magazine features a Q & A with Interim President John Engler. . . . He cites the two most significant accomplishments to happen during his time at MSU as mediating over 300 lawsuits faced by the university and the approval of the operating budget by the Board of Trustees back in June.

Despite rallies for transparency from Engler and the board, petitions for the resignation and firing of university leaders, eruptive screaming matches in trustee meetings, Engler said when he meets with students, faculty and alumni, it's positive. "They're very proud of Michigan State University. They're proud to be here,” Engler said in the published magazine.

The campus journalist ends with a MSU spokeswoman's five-paragraph statement about the goal of "striking a balance between addressing the problems of the past but also showing the positive impact Spartans are having."

One content change is in a Page 5 "Letter to Our Readers" from Davenport, a former newspaper reporter who became the alumni magazine's editor in April 2014 and is a communications manager in the University Advancement office.

Her six-sentence original message (below) speaks of "helping Nassar's survivors, the university and our Spartan community to recover from harm and banish such abuse from ever again happening here." It's replaced by these two sentences:

We've done our best in this issue to update you on significant changes to MSU policies, new building projects and stories of Spartans doing good for the benefit of others. But first, you'll find letters sent to us earlier this year when news of abuses by Larry Nassar went global. 

♦ See page proofs of the original summer issue-in-progress.

♦ See the revised issue sent to alumni this summer.


The editor's letter before she was directed to rewrite it.


Read more:  The State News


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