Mott Community College stops short of a new investigation into president’s alleged ‘proselytizing’

Community members at a tense Wednesday meeting of the Mott Community College Board of Trustees called for a new investigation into the conduct of the college’s president, Shaunda Richardson-Snell, after she was accused by multiple people of pushing her Christian religious beliefs coercively on students, staff, faculty and guests at the university.

The board, however, took no action toward a new investigation into Richardson-Snell, other than to postpone a vote on a statement from the board that was drafted in a lengthy closed session. The statement from the board, which will be taken up at its meeting scheduled on Monday, Feb. 23, says that the college respects the deeply held religious beliefs of its faculty, staff and students, but also that it respects those members’ right to be free of any kind of religious persecution, harassment or the type of proselytizing of which the college president has been accused.

Although the board did not necessarily satisfy those who called for a renewed investigation, the meeting featured nearly two hours of public comment, giving both sides in the debate over Richardson-Snell’s conduct a chance to be heard.

Several people, including ministers and other Christians within the Mott Community College community, defended Richard-Snell, saying she did not proselytize or evangelize as alleged on campus or at college-sponsored functions. Those that supported her said she was simply sharing her faith with others, and that the speech some found troubling was protected by the First Amendment.

Others said that Richard-Snell had abused her position as president of the college to push her Christian ideology on others in unsolicited and inappropriate situations.

Those who spoke out about Richardson-Snell’s conduct also said that she was creating a workplace culture where those who do not agree with her religious musings are either reprimanded or fired, while those who do agree are elevated and promoted. Some members of the Mott Community College faculty and past board members said those instances of Richardson-Snell pushing her beliefs onto others were a frequent and recurring problem.

Michael Freeman, a former trustee, called for the board to engage in an independent investigation, separate from a previous inquiry into Richardson-Snell’s comments that commenced after the Indigenous persons incident in October 2025. 

“The findings should be made public to ensure transparency and restore trust. If that independent investigation determines that President Richardson-Snell has violated the constitutional rights of our students or improperly used her office to endorse religious activity, then she should immediately resign,” Freeman said. “This is not about politics. It is not about personal belief. It is about constitutional governance, public accountability and the protection of students whose education is supported by taxpayer dollars.”

Multiple allegations led to the special meeting on Wednesday.

In a letter sent to Richardson-Snell and the college board, the nonprofit group Americans United for Separation of Church and State in December said Mott’s president had made comments of a religiously hostile nature on multiple occasions, including an incident involving Wayne Wilson, a member of the Navajo Nation based in Arizona, in which Richardson-Snell is accused of asking if he had accepted Jesus Christ as his savior.

Wilson planted Mott Community College’s Peace and Dignity Tree, which has been on campus since 1992 in honor of unity among Indigenous people. Bridge Michigan reported that the interaction between Wilson and Richardson-Snell occurred during a celebration of that monument late last year.

The interaction was made worse, Wilson said, due to the fact that he had mentioned Indian boarding schools, some of which were in Michigan, where Indigenous Americans were subjected to abuse, death and Christian indoctrination.

Richard-Snell became president of the college in 2024 after its former president, Beverly Walker-Griffea, was appointed to lead the Michigan Department Lifelong Education, Advancement and Potential. Some have argued that the issue now before the board was a problem of their own making because the board did not engage in a nationwide search to replace Walker-Griffea, and that the board did not do its due diligence in hiring Richardson-Snell.

The statement crafted in closed session on Wednesday, which was not approved and was tabled for the upcoming meeting, was drafted by trustee Santino Guerra. It acknowledged that the board had heard the concerns of the public, dealt with them in a timely manner when the issue was raised by Wilson last year. The statement addressed only old allegations and did not include new information that would necessitate a new investigation.

Still, trustee Art Reyes took umbrage with the board waiting until February of 2026 to publicly address an issue that took place in October 2025. He was among the trustees who called for a decision on approving the public statement to be tabled.

Trustee John Daly also was concerned about an alleged communication between Richardson-Snell and Wilson in which she reportedly asked him to affirm that she had done nothing wrong. Daly said he was concerned if Richardson-Snell had somehow acted in a way that interfered with the board’s previous inquiry.

The board’s interim corporate counsel told trustees that Richardson-Snell may have been in her right to contact a supposed witness in a legal manner, a form of public due process, if there was an alleged constitutional violation that might be pending over the Wilson incident.

Despite some pushback, Mott president had support

Those in support of Richardson-Snell, which included nearly half among individuals who gave public comment, doubled-down on her right to talk about her religion openly, and that she in no way coerced or forced her beliefs on anyone.

That group included Katherine Bussard, executive director of Salt & Light Global, a faith-based organization that she said was focused on good governance and the rule of law. Bussard said that she was speaking in her personal capacity and that she supports Richardson-Snell’s ability to continue making religious commentary on campus. She also argued that despite Richardson-Snell’s official role with the college, the institution was a public space that needed to accommodate both political and religious speech.

“Often we misquote the Establishment Clause and we just look at that first part, but we forget to look at that second part that protects the free exercise of speech, and in questions of free speech, or even speech that might be offensive to some and beloved by others, the answer is, never censorship. It’s more free speech,” Bussard said. “That’s what needs to be protected. … It’s an integral part of the values that shape our society.

But others, like Mott parent Elizabeth Jordan, say Richardson-Snell’s actions conflated her personal beliefs with her official role and called for a full investigation.

“It’s very important to understand, especially in a position of leadership of a public institution, the difference between private belief and private conduct and public conduct,” Jordan said. “If you are the president of a public college and you are at your day job on a college campus, attending the college event. This is no conversation that you have that is personal in nature. … I’m concerned that Miss Richardson now is unprepared for the role that she’s occupying, if she cannot differentiate between personal conduct and her official capacity.”

Celia Perez Booth, a former academic, Mott counselor and an activist dedicated to preserving indigenous Mexican culture, spoke on behalf of Wilson at the meeting. She said he was traumatized by the incident, as well additional alleged attempts by Richardson-Snell to contact him through legal communications.

She said what was most troubling was the fact that Richardson-Snell and her supporters appear to believe that she did nothing wrong, which is insulting to the history of Native Americans in Michigan who faced religious tyranny from Christian settlers.

“She represented the school, and it was not a private conversation,” Booth said. “All we are asking her, as a Native American community, is for her not to open old wounds that we’re still healing from.”