Michael Westendorf

Michael Westendorf is the current Chief Justice of Saginaw Valley. He previously served as chairman, chief executive, and executive editor of The Saginaw Valley Journal; and managing editor of The Valley Vanguard during the 2008-09 academic year.

He has been to more association meetings than any other person, with the exception of 42-year SVSU veteran and former Student Association advisor Dick Thompson. In 2013, Westendorf wrote the book “Feels Good Man: The Student Presidency of Theodore C. Goodman,” on controversial two-time Student Association President Ted Goodman.

Westendorf previously served on the board of directors of the Foundation for the Marketplace of Ideas, a non-profit whose mission is the educate the public about the freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution. He is also a member of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Students, Michigan Open Carry, and the Supreme Court Historical Society.

Chief Justice
Westendorf currently serves as the Chief Justice of Saginaw Valley, the chief judge on the Supreme Court of Saginaw Valley. The chief justice is appointed by the other members of the court, with the advice of the Student Association President, in a secret-ballot vote. Westendorf was reappointed by the court on Nov. 30, 2017 with the solicited advice of Student Association President Lauren Kreiss, after a brief absence.

Westendorf is responsible for presiding over the question-and-answer sessions of the court (oral arguments) as well as assigning opinions of the court between the Justices. Westendorf is one of five members of the court; the other four have the title Associate Justice.

Despite Westendorf's elevated stature on the court, his vote carries the same legal weight as the vote of each associate justice. Additionally, he has no legal authority to overrule the verdicts or interpretations of the other four Members or tamper with them.

Westendorf assigns the opinions of the court between the justices, even if he is not in the majority. Opinions of the court serve as the ruling voice of the court on a particular case. He is also responsible for contacting the Student Association President in the case of a vacancy on the court by delivering a physical letter via U.S. mail, per the court's rules of procedure. As chief justice, Westendorf also presides over the secret ballot vote to fill an associate justice vacancy on the court.

The Saginaw Valley Journal
Westendorf spent over a decade covering Student Association meetings, events, and news. He founded The Saginaw Valley Journal in 2009 while he was managing editor of The Valley Vanguard.

At the time, the publication was one of only a handful of for-profit campus newspapers in the nation. Its existence drastically changed the media landscape on campus. During its college years, The Saginaw Valley Journal was profiled by the Columbia Journalism Review and College Media Matters, a popular campus newspaper blog written by Daniel Reimold, the late-Ph.D.-educated student media advisor, who called Westendorf "an increasingly innovative and intriguing figure within collegemediatopia."

The Saginaw Valley Journal was known for its aggressive and comprehensive coverage of the association. Student Association Parliamentarian Jeremy Jones publicly said that before The Saginaw Valley Journal, the association was seldom held accountable for its actions publicly and that student leaders became more diligent in their duties.

The newspaper also had its fair share of critics, however. For his role in founding the newspaper, Michael Westendorf was removed from The Valley Vanguard's editorial board. He was also threatened in 2011 by Student Association Public Information Officer Jordan Garland, who said that The Saginaw Valley Journal should print “just 'happy news' like The Vanguard ."

Even Jones, who briefly served as Opinion Editor in 2011, said that the reports on alleged corruption that embarrassed student leaders also led to less productivity within student government.

"The staff at [The Saginaw Valley Journal] is not so concerned about saving face as it is with reporting the news. But that has also come with a downside," he said at the time.

In 2013, Blackhurst Campbell LLC purchased the newspaper from Sterling, Hoffman & Co. in a deal involving cash and shares of Blackhurst. After the purchase, Westendorf stepped down as chief executive to make room for Nick Byard and focus completely on editorial content.

The newspaper branched out to cover the Great Lakes Bay Region in the spring of 2016, abandoning regular coverage of the campus of SVSU in favor of local governments, school districts, athletics, local small business and finance news, as well as other areas-of-interest within the community. Westendorf resigned as executive editor and a partner at Blackhurst Campbell, effective Dec. 31, 2016, ending his tenure at the newspaper.