Kevin Guskiewicz Leaves MSU for Clemson Presidency

kevin guskiewicz is leaving Michigan State to become the new president at Clemson. His exit comes after just more than two years in East Lansing, and it immediately changes the leadership picture at a school that has cycled through presidents since 2018.

Guskiewicz and Michigan State

Michigan State’s Board of Trustees had offered him a $1 million raise, but the move still happened. Reported friction with the board appears to have pushed him out, ending a run that had made him relatively accessible and mostly popular among the student body.

That departure leaves Michigan State facing another transition at the top. Since Lou Anna K. Simon resigned in January 2018, six different people have been either acting, interim or permanent president at the university.

J Batt's Contract Shift

The change reaches athletics too. J Batt’s buyout would normally be $5 million if he left Michigan State right now, but Guskiewicz’s departure cuts it to $2.5 million.

Michigan State paid roughly $2 million to Georgia Tech last year to hire Batt to replace Alan Haller, so the buyout reset alters the financial footing around one of the university’s most important hires. Guskiewicz and Batt had been described as being in lockstep, which makes the president’s exit a direct change for the athletic department’s top office.

Clemson and the Next Step

For Clemson, the move installs Guskiewicz as its new president after he first left North Carolina in March 2024. For Michigan State, it means another search and another reset in a period already marked by turnover at the top.