"Today, President Stanley certified to the State of Michigan that the University satisfied the requirement under Michigan law that the President and a member of the Board of Trustees review all Title IX reports involving the alleged sexual misconduct of University employees for fiscal year 2022. Recently, the Board became aware of concerns regarding the reliability of the University’s prior 2021 Title IX certification. In response to these concerns and to address concerns raised by the Board about the certification process generally, the University’s Office of Audit, Risk, and Compliance conducted a review of the Title IX certification process. In the interests of transparency, the Board is releasing the independent audit of Marilyn K. Tarrant, MSU Chief Audit, Risk and Compliance Officer, dated September 13, 2022. The names of individuals have been redacted to protect their privacy.
In addition, the Board took swift action by retaining two outside law firms to investigate the 2021 Title IX certification process, provide guidance to the Board in reviewing Title IX reports, identify shortfalls in the process, and make recommendations to improve the process. The reviews by these law firms, Honigman LLP and Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, remain ongoing.
Nonetheless, in addition to the 2022 certification – out of an abundance of caution – members of the Board have reviewed the relevant Title IX reports for fiscal year 2021 and President Stanley has re-certified that the University satisfied the requirement under Michigan law for fiscal year 2021. President Stanley has submitted that re-certification to the Legislature and State of Michigan."