Michigan State University President Stanley’s September 30, 2021 Letter to the MSU Community

<p><a href="https://president.msu.edu">Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D.</a>:</p><p><br>Russ, it's always great to be with you. As you say, it's a beautiful day right now in East Lansing, so wonderful we could spend it with everybody outside. That's great.</p><p><a href="https://twitter.com/RussGRNnWhite">Russ White</a>:</p><p><br><a href="https://alumni.msu.edu/homecoming/">Homecoming</a> week, sir, just a great time really once a year at a minimum for Spartans to reflect on how important this place was to them and continues to be, right?</p><p>Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D.:</p><p><br>Yeah, Homecoming's a great description for it, isn't it? It's a chance for people to come to their Spartan home. I missed the last two. Rained out my first year and then the pandemic struck the second. So it's wonderful for me to be able to experience this for the first time. And I'm looking forward to the parade and all the wonderful things that are going to happen. Of course, our Homecoming champion, Barbara Ross-Lee, the famous member of the Spartan community who was the first Black woman to be a dean of a medical school. So, it's a great distinction to bring her back and it ties in so much for the sense of community and respect we have at MSU.</p><p>Russ White:</p><p><br>And one of the things that makes MSU great is the many academic programs. There are a lot of rankings that come up. How important are those ranking to you? They're indicative I'm sure, but never tell the whole story, right?</p><p>Samuel L. Stanley Jr., M.D.:</p><p><br>I think you summarized it really well. They do matter. I would never say they don't matter because there are people who pay attention to them, and they are kind of an external benchmark of how you're doing compared to peers. On the other hand, it's very complex. You can go up and down for reasons that may not have completely to do with mission. So, I don't take them quite so serious, but I do think they matter. And they certainly matter to some students and parents I think who are very interested