Michigan State board dispute: Who is Brianna Scott?

EAST LANSING — Brianna Scott is at the center of a growing movement among Michigan Democrats asking Michigan State University Board Chair Rema Vassar to resign.

Scott has accused Vassar of professional misconduct, bullying and breaking the board's code of conduct, and several prominent Democrats have also called for Vassar to resign.

A Muskegon native and one of two Black trustees on the board, Scott is in her first eight-year term after being elected as a Democrat in 2018. She earned an undergraduate degree in marketing and a law degree from Wayne State.

Scott was elected at the height of the scandal surrounding how Michigan State handled accusations against Larry Nassar, the former doctor serving an effective life sentence in state and federal prisons for molesting hundreds of women and young girls.

A series of firsts in Muskegon

Scott is a former president of the university’s chapter of Delta Sigma Theta, and as a student she was also an executive board member of the Wonders Black caucus and a member of the MSU prelaw association and marketing association.

She was the first Black assistant prosecutor in the Muskegon County Prosecutor's Office and in 2005 opened her own firm, Brianna Scott and Associates, the first in the Muskegon area to be owned by a Black woman. She has been recognized by her community for her accomplishments with multiple awards, including the “Athena of the Lakeshore” in 2019 and 2021 Greater Muskegon Woman’s Club Woman of Accomplishment. Scott also currently serves as president of the Muskegon Heights Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and on numerous boards. She serves as legal counsel for the International Churches Of God In Christ.

Scott campaign on reform but draws ire of survivors

Scott ran in 2018 as a reform candidate, criticizing how MSU handled accusations against Nassar, saying the university "utterly failed to respond and appropriately investigate years of complaints of sexual abuse and assault." She said the board lacked transparency and said the state of affairs at the time at MSU "presents significant concerns regarding the status of women on the MSU campus."

Less than a year into her job on the board, Scott declared in September of 2019 she wouldn’t support an independent investigation of the university's handling of the Nassar scandal until the school waived attorney-client privilege. She was one of four trustees to vote to kill an investigation announced in June in cooperation with survivors Rachael Denhollander, Sarah Klein and Sterling Riethman, who worked with a board committee to select a law firm to investigate how the school handled complaints against Nassar.

Scott said at the time she believed an investigation was appropriate but that it "didn't feel right at this time," adding that it would be better to wait until the board waived attorney-client privilege around thousands of documents it has withheld from public view and two attorney generals. Trustees said they have to keep the documents privileged in order to win ongoing lawsuits about whether the school's insurance policies should cover the massive costs from the Nassar scandal, although the school has not waived privilege more than five years after Nassar was sentenced.

The vote put Scott at odds with fellow Democrat Kelly Tebay, who said she was "frustrated" and "disheartened" with her colleagues' decision.

Earlier this year, Angelika Martinez-McGhee, speaking at a board meeting, told Scott: “We are sitting here today, many years later looking at you and we see the kind of person that you campaigned against."

A controversial partnership

That same first September on the board, Scott drew criticism when her partnership with longtime trustee Joel Ferguson became public in a news story. Scott and Ferguson, who was first elected to the board in 1986, were awarded a bid to renovate a former downtown Muskegon building, and the partnership sparked criticism from Nassar survivors. Denhollander called for an investigation into Scott’s role in the deal with the controversial Ferguson.

Denhollander, the first Nassar victim to go public about her abuse and one of three survivors to call out Scott for her role, said the deal should be examined.

Her spokeswoman at the time, Debra Brown Hendrickson, brushed aside accusations Scott was being influenced by Ferguson, saying the businesswoman had been looking at projects downtown for years.

"She is going to vote on the MSU board with what she believes in her heart is the right vote for the university," Hendrickson said, adding that "you cannot tell her (Scott)" how to act if she doesn't want to go that way.

Ferguson announced less than a year later he would not seek reelection to the board. He said at the time he would focus on elected fellow Democrats, including now President Joe Biden, U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin and current MSU board chairwoman Rema Vassar.

The developer was known for his ties to MSU athletics, and his last years on the board were rife with criticism over his decisions. He adamantly supported former President Lou Anna Simon, who the board eventually forced out as public outcry during Nassar's state sentencings grew, as well as the effort to hire former Gov. John Engler as interim president. Engler lost support of the board in part over his comments and actions toward survivors of Nassar. Ferguson was criticized for public comments his own spokesperson admitted trivialized the experience of Nassar's victims, referring to the scandal as "just this Nassar thing."

The Detroit Free Press contributed to this story.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Michigan State board dispute: Who is Brianna Scott?