The Michigan State University president, Lou Anna Simon, has resigned amid an outcry over the school’s handling of the Larry Nassar abuse case.
The announcement that Simon was stepping down came hours after the sentencing of Nassar, who worked at Michigan State as a doctor and received 40 to 175 years in prison for molesting young girls and women under the guise of medical treatment. Several of the 150-plus victims who spoke at the hearing were former athletes at the school, and many victims accused the university of mishandling past complaints about Nassar.
“As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable,” Simon said in her resignation letter. “As president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger.”
Simon was promoted to school president in 2005 after moving up the ranks while flourishing in various administrative roles. “We agree with Dr Simon that it is now time for change,” the board of trustees chairman Brian Breslin said in a statement. “President Simon has served with distinction as MSU’s President for 13 years and has been a constant presence at the university for more than 40 years.”
Former Michigan State gymnastics coach Kathie Klages resigned last year after she was suspended for defending Nassar over the years. Klages is accused of downplaying complaints made by two teenagers in 1997.
An investigation conducted by the university cleared Nassar of sexual assault allegations in 2014. At least 12 reported assaults occurred after the investigation ended, according to a university police report that was provided to the FBI for review by the US attorney. The school let Nassar see patients for 16 months while the campus police also conducted a criminal investigation into the allegations. The local prosecutor declined to charge Nassar in that case.
TimelineLarry Nassar abuse case
Show
According to a lawsuit, Nassar commits his first recorded assault, abusing a 12-year-old girl in the guise of medical research. A year later Nassar gains his medical degree from Michigan State University, where he will commit many of his assaults.
Nassar becomes national medical coordinator for USA Gymnastics before the Atlanta Olympics. He will go on to treat athletes at the next five Olympics and abuse many of them. Olympic champions Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney are among those who said they were abused by Nassar under the guise of medical treatment.
The first recorded complaints about Nassar are received. According to a 2017 lawsuit, youth gymnastics coach John Geddert fails to investigate the allegations.
Claims against Nassar go public for the first time after the Indianapolis Star publishes an investigation into sexual abuse at USA Gymnastics. Rachael Denhollander files a criminal complaint against Nassar, saying she was first abused by him when she was 15.
Eighteen women file a lawsuit against Nassar, USA Gymnastics, MSU and Twistars Gymnastics Club. The lawsuit alleges Nassar assaulted the women over a period of 20 years and the institutions named in the suit failed to prevent his behaviour.
Nassar pleads guilty to seven charges of criminal sexual abuse. He later pleads guilty to three further accounts as part of a plea agreement.
Nassar is given a jail term of up to 175 years for sexually abusing athletes in his care. In total, 156 women make impact statement at his sentence hearing, saying he abused them. Handing down the sentence, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina says: “I just signed your death warrant”.
“As you and many in the Spartan family know, I planned to retire in December 2016, and we had begun a conversation about a smooth transition,” said Simon in her resignation letter. “Then the Indianapolis Star article appeared about USAG and one of the victims contacted MSU police to file a complaint. The MSU Police investigation commenced. Nassar’s employment was terminated shortly thereafter. Work began within the HealthTeam and other areas of the university to improve safety. Given the challenges, my transition was postponed. I appreciate the support you provided.
The university’s eight-member board of trustees voiced support of Simon last week only to have one trustee issue a statement the next day saying she should resign. On Wednesday, a second trustee, Dianne Byrum, joined a growing chorus of calls for Simon to step down.
The fallout included Michigan State professor Sue Carter stepping down as the faculty’s athletic representative. “I had an exchange recently with President Simon that persuaded me to know my voice and the concerns of others are not being heard,” Carter said. “I could no longer be part of an administration that was not in full grasp of the damage that has been done to the girls and women and to the institution itself.”
Michigan State officials have denied accusations the school covered up misconduct by school administrators. The university has said reviews by campus police, the FBI and the US attorney’s office have not resulted in criminal charges against anyone at the university other than Nassar, who was fired in September 2016.
Simon has apologised numerous times to Nassar’s victims, including in the first paragraph of her resignation letter. “To the survivors, I can never say enough that I am so sorry that a trusted, renowned physician was really such an evil, evil person who inflicted such harm under the guise of medical treatment,” Simon said.