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Ex-Michigan Governor Turns Down Harvard Fellowship After Backlash Over Role in Flint Water Crisis

Rick Snyder was serving as Michigan’s governor when the Flint water crisis began in 2014.

Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has turned down a fellowship position at Harvard University following criticism over the appointment. Snyder was governor of Michigan from 2011 through 2018 and was in office at the beginning of the Flint water crisis in 2014. The crisis began after a state-appointed manager approved plans to switch the city’s water source from Lake Huron to the Flint River, resulting in the subsequent lead contamination of drinking water and increase in lead levels in Flint’s children, the Detroit Free Press reports. The contamination has been connected to outbreaks of Legionnaire’s disease and the deaths of 12 people. Snyder was set to accept a year-long appointment with the Taubman Center for State and Local Government, where Harvard said he would share his “expertise in management, public policy and promoting civility.” Several notable figures disavowed the appointment, including Orange Is the New Black author Piper Kerman and “Little Miss Flint” activist Mari Copeny.