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Michigan State’s Independent Voice
MSU STARTS 2-0 IN FITZGERALD ERA WITH BIG TEST AHEAD By Owen Kinzey okinzey@statenews.com The 2026 Michigan State football team has yet to find an identity through two weeks under its new head coach, but its inability to contain the big play at times has quickly surfaced as a major concern for this new regime. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald and defensive coordinator Joe Rossi spoke all week about the need to stop letting up explosive, gamechanging plays. Still, the Spartans showcased there’s plenty to clean up before their first road test against No.3 team next week. “They were more physical than we were at the point of attack,” Fitzgerald said. “We did not fit gaps right, we did not run our feet and tackle the way that we’re coached to do it and B:10.25" that’s something we’re just going to obviously emphasize and get a heck of a lot T:10" better at as we work at it.” These deficiencies have yet to alter the S:9.75" outcomes of any games up to this point, it’s bound to catch up to the Spartans against increased competition. The margin for error will shrink and so will the self-inflicted shortcomings if MSU wants to compete in the Big Ten. Michigan State edge Kenny Soares Jr. (1) hypes up the crowd before Eastern Michigan attempts to get a first down in the first quarter of the game in Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., on Sept. 12, 2026. Photo by Sydney Gaietto.
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Positioned on a white pedestal, a ceramic statue called “Desiring Peace, 2026” created by Sierra Lamphier is displayed at the Lasting Impressions Art Gallery in the MSU Union, in East Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2026. Photo by Graham Holden.
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FROM COVER: DIFFERENCE IN TWO HALVES DEFINES MSU’S RUN DEFENSE Kenny Soares Jr. (1) celebrates early in the first quarter of the game in Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., on Sept. 12, 2026. Photo by Graham Holden.
Michigan State running back Cam Edwards (0) prepares to stiff arm an Eastern player as he runs the ball in Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Mich., on Sept. 12, 2026. Photo by Graham Holden.
By Owen Kinzey okinzey@statenews.com The Spartans defense looked promising on their opening drive, holding Eastern Michigan to a three-and-out, the same way they did against Toledo. However, in the remainder of the first half, EMU brutalized MSU on the ground, picking up several chunk plays that allowed the Eagles to control the tempo. EMU consistently moved the chains, keeping the Spartans defense on the field and preventing any rhythm offensively. Runs that should’ve been blown up in the backfield,
or halted at the line of scrimmage, turned into frustrating positive gains. This problem became especially apparent in the second quarter when the little gains turned into gains of 10, 13, 16 and 20 yards apiece. It wasn’t a particular player on the Eagles doing the damage; it was three different players. The running back duo of Braydon Bennett and Amareon Blue, along with the occasional quarterback scramble from ex-Spartan Noah Kim, attacked MSU’s lack of physicality. This stretch was part of what Fitzgerald described as the team’s second-quarter lull; something that cannot happen going forward.
“We got a ton of work to do,” Fitzgerald said. “We can’t allow a lull to happen. We cannot be out-physicaled and we’ve got to get a lot better and I look forward to working on that this week.” Despite allowing 107 first-half rushing yards, the Spartans run defense overhauled its intensity and intention in the second half and looked like a completely different unit. “(We) talked a lot about physicality and it’s a lot of props to Coach Rossi and his adjustments made at half,” sophomore linebacker Brady Pretzlaff said. “(Credit to us) taking on the challenge to be more physical and play our
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ball the Spartan way.” That physicality adjustment sparked instant change, which immediately displayed on the scoreboard. MSU came out of the half with a 14-7 lead and went on to score 21 unanswered points. Yes, the offense improved, but it was the defense shooting gaps and getting to football back in the hands of the Spartans. What EMU had found on the ground in the first half had vanished as MSU held the Eagles to -6 rushing yards throughout the total second half — a difference of 113 yards. For Fitzgerald and Rossi’s defense, the response showed growth and provided a positive sign, but the slow start is something to question until it’s solved. The second-half demonstrated what this defense is capable of, even without its star senior linebacker Jordan Hall, who didn’t play due to injury. “I don’t want to minimize not having that big of a fixture of our defense out there, but it’s next man up in tally,” Fitzgerald said. “Those guys that went out there, I think learned a lot throughout the course of the game. I thought they played much better in the second half, and we need to continue to reinforce those guys playing that way.” MSU moves to 2-0 before venturing to South Bend against No. 3-ranked Notre Dame. The game is set for Saturday, Sept. 19 at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
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NEWS
MSU BOARD FACES CONTINUED DISTRUST AFTER SUMMER OF LEADERSHIP TURMOIL, THREATS
Photo illustration by Lila Tuell.
By Julia Roeder jroeder@statenews.com The last time the Michigan State University Board of Trustees publicly sat face-to-face was during their meeting in Benton Harbor, and President Kevin Guskiewicz was set to leave for another institution in a matter of weeks. Guskiewicz later backtracked, but only after MSU found itself yet again under the public eye as trustees were doxxed in retaliation for pushing out the beloved president. Now, three months later, faculty, students and public commentators walked into the Hannah Administration building ready to voice their concerns to a still-fractured board.
CODE OF ETHICS AND CONDUCT In one of the university’s last attempts to retain Guskiewicz before his now-reversed departure for Clemson University, the Board of Trustees was asked to revise its code of ethics and conduct. After not supporting the board’s newly enforced code — which bars trustees from publicly dissenting from majority board decisions in their individual capacities — trustees Rema Vassar and Mike Balow were censured. Since the May 17 special meeting, concerns about the code’s restrictions on free speech have cleaved the board in two. “The policy is not about limiting speech or restricting board members from raising concerns, providing oversight or questioning decisions,”
Board Chair Brianna Scott said. “Instead, it establishes standard governing practices.” Trustee Sandy Pierce emphasized the code’s importance from a “fiduciary” perspective, saying these standards are common “across sectors.” Regardless, Balow said the revised code “probably needs to change if we’re gonna be true to our ideals.” During a press conference after the meeting, Scott said “it will take six people to change the code of ethics, and at this point, I doubt that there will be any changes.” Guskiewicz said the revisions allow for the administration and board to “move forward together.” “Whether you agree or disagree with the decision (that) has been made, we move on and accept that,” Guskiewicz said. “If you disagreed with the decision — the board majority felt this was the right direction to move forward.” In May, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a Philadelphiabased nonprofit, sent a letter to MSU’s board saying the new code of ethics and conduct is unconstitutional. FIRE was one of many free speech critics, accusing the revisions of “silencing dissent.” Scott clarified that the MSU Office of General Counsel helped the board amend the code and a third-party legal review confirmed it follows the Michigan Constitution. Spokesperson Amber McCann did not respond to The State News’s requests for comment on
which third-party firm reviewed the revised code.
THREATS FOLLOWING CENS0RING Just 10 days after the trustees voted to give Guskiewicz a $1 million raise in May — effectively doubling his salary — MSU’s president decided to take the top job at Clemson University. Upon his closing remarks to MSU, he said board dissension created an “unsustainable situation” at the university. Men’s basketball head coach Tom Izzo’s call for “Spartan Nation” to stand up, paired with Guskiewicz’s remarks, fueled existing public criticism of the trustees on social media, where students and alumni jointly championed petitions, mass email campaigns and spreadsheets doxxing trustees’ personal information amid calls for the immediate resignation of members of the Board of Trustees. At Thursday’s stakeholder engagement forum, Vassar was accompanied by bodyguards. Vassar said strangers have followed her home at Friday’s board meeting, adding she has received calls and messages to never come back to East Lansing. “I will be here today. I’ll be here in the weeks to come,” Vassar said. “I’ll continue to show up. And with the security detail, if that’s what’s necessary for my safety.” Trustee Rebecca Bahar-Cook told The Detroit News in June she had to have police dispatched to her home for her safety. MSU Department of Police and Public Safety Chief Mike Yankowski said that all trustees FE E DBACK@STAT E N EWS.COM
received additional security resources during the summer and were instructed to forward any threatening communications to police. He clarified that “nothing rose to the level of a criminal charge.” In reference to Vassar, Yankowski said he had conversations with the Detroit Police Department over safety concerns.
STAKEHOLDERS The five weeks between Guskiewicz’s thenimpending departure and his decision to stay felt like “whiplash” for MSU faculty, Faculty Senate Chair John Aerni-Flessner said. “Most members of the public and MSU’s faculty were left in limbo for five weeks, wondering about the strategic direction of the institution, and what institutional leadership might look like in this academic year,” Aerni-Flessner said. The Academic Congress overwhelmingly voted in July that they lack confidence in the Board of Trustees, while a separate vote showed a majority support Guskiewicz. These sentiments were echoed by President of the Council of Graduate Students Priyanka Kothari: “We experienced a summer of uncertainty within the MSU administration that has led to an erosion of trust in the community,” she said. “As we return back, it is important that the full board regains that trust. We need to acknowledge and address the elephant in the room.”
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REVIEW: “Adults” season two grows into itself By Maria Papalois mpapalois@statenews.com FX’s emergent ensemble sitcom “Adults” is the best attempt at capturing “the Gen Z spirit” executed in recent years. The second season aired on Aug. 27 with eight episodes and one special episode set prior to the start of season one. The show’s renewal for a second season is an accomplishment, considering the frequency with which similar shows were canceled (such as Hulu’s “Not Suitable For Work”). “Adults” shines brightest in its endearing character dynamics and absurd plots, both of which provide the ironic and outrageous humor indicative of Gen Z. The show’s first season introduced us to its five main characters, all of whom live under the same roof: Samir (Malik Elassal), Billie (Lucy Freyer), Issa (Amita Rao), Anton (Owen Thiele) and Issa’s boyfriend, Paul Baker (Jack Innanen). The characters never refer to
Paul Baker as anything but that, which is amusing. While the first season was focused on the group finding their footing in both the adult world and within the show, the second season was all about love. Every character finds love and faces heartbreak this season, with outlandish stories propelling them forward. I was surprised to find the first season had a new episode one, “Marathon Day.” The additional storyline chronicles how the group met Paul Baker (though he was only in the episode briefly) and establishes the relationships between the core group. Paul Baker is the “Rachel” of the group, a newcomer coming into an established friend group and changing the dynamics around. (I could match every member of the “Adults” group to their “Friends” counterpart if I wanted — except Phoebe). Season two is chaotic from the outset and I enjoyed the story in every episode. I will say, more effort could have been exerted on weaving jokes
into multiple episodes, such as Issa freezing her eggs in Episode 4: “Talia,” which is never mentioned again. The best sitcoms write jokes that build across seasons. Episode 7: “C Alert” was by far my favorite of the season, due in no small part to Thiele’s ridiculously funny performance as Anton. In the episode, Anton accidentally lets his at-home vocabulary slip into the workplace and desperately tries to do damage control throughout the week. Thiele portrays Anton’s anguish insanely well, earning an actual laugh from me. Not just a “LOL!” The episode also succeeds in demonstrating “Gen Z humor,” with Anton’s generational gap with his coworkers limiting him in expression. Gen Z has a knack for redefining once-taboo vocabulary as common speech; in Anton’s case, this was the “c-word.” Along with Thiele, Lucy Freyer as Billie was another standout performance. Freyer commands attention every time she is onscreen. She is awkward, messy and ultimately relatable. Billie and Anton have their own moments of reckoning and pensiveness (Billie’s dissatisfaction with the job market and Anton’s unprocessed feelings for Paul Baker), while Issa is either playing the
supportive friend or the wild card. Every member of the cast, however, brings their own style and humor. I praise the chemistry between all of them. The season builds to a finale I can only describe as a classic in-casewe-get-canceled ending, with every character paired up, happily ever after. These are common with shows in their infancy. The threat of cancellation looms over the early seasons, so the creators write a season finale that could feasibly tie up the series and satisfy viewers. For a season finale, I enjoyed how side characters made a return and appreciated the longawaited resolution to Anton and Paul
Baker’s relationship. Their sweet and simple moments during the season made the ending more heartwarming. Many modern TV shows try to portray Gen Z as an entity, winking at the audience as if to say, “the youth don’t know anything but their phones!” This makes sense; millennials and Gen X are the primary producers of such media and are disconnected from rising young adults. They fail to understand that the nature of Gen Z humor comes from a crude self-awareness of the chaotic world around them. “Adults” offers a human lens on the difficulty and absurdity that comes with growing into a welladjusted adult.
Illustration by Rowan Brennan.
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ABDUL EL-SAYED, WILL LAWRENCE SAY MSU STUDENTS CAN BRING PROGRESSIVE POLITICS TO MICHIGAN
Michigan U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed speaks during a town hall at the MSU Union in East Lansing, Mich., on Sept. 11, 2026. Photo by Brendan Mullin.
By Belle Potter bpotter@statenews.com Before the doors opened for U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s Michigan State University town hall on Friday, hundreds of students crowded the halls of the MSU Union in anticipation. Human biology sophomore Isabella Squier was one of them, drawn to El-Sayed’s campaign because of his
attention toward young voters. “I really love how he’s more focused towards the younger generation since we are up and coming,” Squier said. “We are the ones that are more likely to sway the voting and [what] the outcomes of the votes are. El-Sayed, the Democratic candidate seeking to replace Sen. Gary Peters (D - Mich.) in November, narrowly defeated U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens for
the nomination in August. The former public health official has pitched a progressive campaign centered around keeping corporate money out of politics, Medicare for all and combating the Trump administration. Electability has been a sore point for the El-Sayed campaign, with critics saying progressive policies aren’t enough to guarantee a muchneeded Democratic win in Michigan after the state flipped for President Donald Trump in 2024. To those concerns, El-Sayed points to Michigan’s youth. “I believe that if you build a politics that young people want to be a part of, that young people will be a part of that politics,” El-Sayed said. Students exceeded the MSU Union ballroom’s 300-person capacity at El-Sayed’s town hall on Friday, while around 4,000 viewers tuned in to the livestream hosted by More Perfect University. At an MSU rally in April, over 600 students showed up to see El-Sayed, with over 37,000 people
watching on leftist commentator Hasan Piker’s livestream. “I love what he stands for,” communication sophomore Ryan Stapleman said. “[His platform] is really what we need, not only from a Michigan standpoint, but for the U.S. entirely.” Social relations and policy freshman Ethan Smith appreciated El-Sayed’s specificity amongst other moderate politicians who “talk in broad terms.” “If his progressive message works here in Michigan, in a purple state, it can work truly anywhere,” Smith said. Smith has faith in El-Sayed’s electability, but said young voters, will need to show up in November to see him win. “[We need] to show [politicians] that we can be the change that we actually want to see,” Smith said. “If these young people here and if young people across campus who aren’t here today show up we can make a profound change.” El-Sayed was joined by William
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NEWS Lawrence, the Democratic candidate for Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, who has similarly run a youth-powered campaign ahead of the November election. Canvassers knocked on more than 100,000 doors in the Greater Lansing area ahead of the August primary. Before taking the stage, Lawrence circled the room of attendees, making conversation and taking photos with students. Lawrence reiterated calls to vote in November, encouraging students to register in East Lansing and to vote early. While the attendees largely consisted of MSU students, several served as staffers working the event to support El-Sayed’s campaign, clad in “Students for Abdul” t-shirts. After the town hall, El-Sayed stressed the importance of staffing students to create a “sustained conversation with young folks.” “Being able to continue to have that conversation with young folks across these campuses about the ability to engage in this election to really change the future of where our politics could be headed, that’s deeply empowering,” El-Sayed said.
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