UCLA civil rights official named a finalist for Michigan State's OIE vice president position

EAST LANSING — A current UCLA civil rights official is one of two finalists for Michigan State University's civil rights office leader.

In an email to the university community, interim MSU President Teresa Woodruff said Chandra Bhatnagar is visiting the campus Monday and Tuesday. He will meet with people and host a presentation at 10 a.m. Tuesday 11 at the Hannah Administration Building, 426 Auditorium Drive.

The email did not identify the second finalist. Once named, the second finalist also is expected to visit MSU later in the week.

Bhatnagar is currently UCLA's assistant vice chancellor of civil rights. Bhatnagar has worked at UCLA since 2017, according to his resume, holding positions at the university's Affirmative Action and Equal Employment Opportunity Compliance office until 2021, and recently he was the head of the university's civil rights office.

More: MSU still struggles to finish Title IX cases quickly, faces staff burnout, turnover

In the latter position, he oversaw the entire UCLA campus and health system since January of 2021. Bhatnagar wrote he supervised the university's Title IX office and investigations within the civil rights office. He said that prior to that, he enforced university, California and federal civil rights policies and laws in the Affirmative Action and EEOC office.

The vice president hopeful held attorney positions at the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for two years and at the American Civil Liberties Union for 11 years, among other positions.

Bhatnagar has a master's degree in law from Columbia University, a juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor of arts degree from Vassar College.

The person selected to run the MSU's Office of Civil Rights and Title IX program will report directly to the president, according to the university's search firm Isaacson Miller. Former President Samuel Stanley Jr. initiated the search in the fall 2022 semester and appointed eight university employees to work with the firm.

"The search committee has been working diligently to review candidates and conduct virtual semi-finalist interviews," Woodruff said in an April 4 release. "After an extensive search, I am pleased to announce two finalist visits will take place the week of April 10 on campus."

Sarah Harebo is the MSU acting associate vice president of the department and Nicole Schmidtke is the Title IX coordinator. The vice president of the department will take the seniority of the two.

"The VP reports to the President of the University and leads the development and implementation of a comprehensive and robust approach to broad-ranging civil rights and Title IX issues with a trauma-informed approach," according to the position description.

More: Group of Nassar survivors support outside investigation into MSU Title IX concerns

The university's Title IX office has been embroiled in controversy for sometimes lengthy investigations beyond a mandated 120-day timeframe, not having an adequate number of case managers and investigators to handle complaints and for the office's high turnover rate.

In September, more than two dozen sexual assault survivors and their parents wrote an open letter to state legislators and Michigan State University's Board of Trustees pleading for an outside investigation into possible problems with how the university addresses sexual misconduct.

“Some board members know all too well, and others should know, that this university needs careful scrutiny of any sexual violence,” survivors wrote. “The university needs leaders who will take Title IX and sexual assault as seriously as if they were survivors.

Support local journalism and get unlimited digital access! Subscribe for only $1 for three months!

Contact reporter Krystal Nurse at 517-267-1344 or knurse@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @KrystalRNurse.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: UCLA civil rights leader finalist for MSU's Civil Rights Office