Michigan State University trustee Dianne Byrum not seeking third term

Dianne Byrum, a Michigan State University trustee and former Democratic Party leader, said Friday she will not seek a third eight-year term on the university's board after serving for almost 16 years.

Byrum, a public relations executive who is a partner at Byrum & Fisk Communications in East Lansing, is the immediate past chair of the MSU Board of Trustees. She was first elected to the MSU board in 2008 and reelected in 2016. Her second term will end on Jan. 1, 2025. 

"I ran for the Michigan State University Board of Trustees to give back to my alma mater for all the opportunities my college degree provided me during the course of my career, but it is time to step aside for a new generation of leaders, and I will not be seeking a third term," Byrum said in a statement. "I love MSU, and I am a Spartan for life – Go Green!”

During an interview, Byrum, 69, said she is semi-retired and isn't sure she can dedicate herself to MSU 100% for another eight years.

"Now is the time," she said. "A new generation of leaders will do just fine."

The term of Dan Kelly, a Republican on the MSU board, also will expire in January 2025. Kelly has not yet said whether he will seek another term.

The announcement comes after Byrum at an October board meeting announced she couldn't get three votes to bring a motion to the floor to remove Rema Vassar as the Board of Trustees chair after Vassar said she wouldn't resign. Byrum backed Trustee Brianna Scott, who had accused Vassar of violating the board's rules of conduct and ethics, bullying board members and administrators, and potentially risking the university's accreditation.

Byrum is a longtime Ingham County Democratic politician who also served in the Legislature for more than a decade, spending a decade on the county commission and running unsuccessfully for Congress in 2000. She was the first woman to lead a caucus in the state as the Michigan House as minority leader.

kkozlowski@detroitnews.com