Newly-Elected President of Clemson U. Backs Out at Last Minute for ‘Personal Reasons’
“According to Clemson, the national search will continue, and the Board plans to meet soon to determine next steps.”
Personal reasons could mean almost anything. Maybe he decided he just doesn’t want the job.
WYFF News reports:
Newly-elected president of Clemson University backs out for ‘personal reasons’
The Clemson Board of Trustees was notified on Monday, July 6, that the newly-elected president of Clemson University, Kevin Guskiewicz, has chosen to remain as the President of Michigan State University for personal reasons.
Guskiewicz was elected to be Clemson University’s 16th president back in May, following a unanimous vote by the Board of Trustees. He was selected after a national search process that university leaders said produced a highly qualified pool of candidates.
In a letter to the students and staff of Michigan State University, Guskiewicz said that his decision to stay was due to his love for the university and community. He stated that he plans to honor his commitment to the school through actions.
Guskiewicz also cited that recent governance changes by the Michigan State University Board of Trustees influenced his decision to stay.
According to Clemson, the national search will continue, and the Board plans to meet soon to determine next steps.
Clemson’s 2026 first fall semester is scheduled to begin Aug. 17.
Back in December 2025, the former president, Jim Clements, announced his retirement. Clements and former President James Baker served the longest tenures of any leader at the university.
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Comments
Unusual, to say the least.
Clemson is better off without this guy, who used to be at UNC and made several awful decisions there before leaving because he couldn’t or wouldn’t obey the BOT.
At least among the faculty, this kind of faux job-shopping is often used to get better pay or facilities at the current school. I wonder if he was using the Clemson job to twist the arms of the Michigan board.
Yep. This was raised hunting.
or it was for rule changes ….
which sometimes is better then
a raise …
quote
Guskiewicz also cited that
recent governance changes by the Michigan State University Board of Trustees influenced his decision to stay.
unquote
My guess: deep financial and HR problems likely requiring massive program and budgetary cutbacks that the incoming president didn’t want to take the blame for and; a deep enrollment cutback due to either a huge tuition increase and/or program cutbacks that rendered the school’s programs non-competitive.
Interesting article at Inside Higher Ed. Guskiewicz got a raise, an extended contract, and bennies including personal flight time on private jets. One BOT member says other BOT members worked on the contract without others’ involvement, which in my state, is against the law.