OT: MSU Interim President Engler Statement RE: Nassar and others
Instead of clipping certain portions I decided to post the letter to the MSU community in full.
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To the MSU campus community: On this second day of my second week as interim president, I think it is important to address several matters many of you have raised with me. Everyone knows the Nassar case is an international story. As he begins serving his sentence in a federal prison in Arizona, we are all still struggling to comprehend the extent of the damage he inflicted on so many girls and young women, and on their families. Questions about how this could have happened and what must be done to prevent it from ever happening again are the subject of multiple inquiries. At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Education is conducting a Clery program review, the U.S. Senate has requested information, and the U.S. House of Representatives has two inquiries underway. The NCAA also is seeking information from us. In Michigan, the House of Representatives is requesting production of documents and the Attorney General’s Office, at MSU’s request, is conducting an investigation. Add to these an accreditation agency inquiry and an ongoing blizzard of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, and the volume of compliance deadlines Michigan State University faces is daunting. Last week alone, we turned over data equivalent to some 45,000 pages of documents, emails, and other materials to William Forsyth, the independent special counsel who is heading the investigation for the Attorney General’s Office. MSU is committed to cooperating with all official requests, and I’m grateful for the cooperation that faculty and staff have given the General Counsel’s office and the law firms that are assisting the university. While the investigations are ongoing, activity in lawsuits representing well over 100 survivors continues to move forward. I’m following the progress closely as we work to return to mediation and, I fervently hope, a just resolution that helps the survivors bring some closure to this horrific chapter in their lives. Michigan State, too, needs to heal and to emerge a stronger institution, one where safety, respect, and civility are hallmarks. That is not a new expectation. The University Policy on Relationship Violence & Sexual Misconduct states from the outset: “Michigan State University is committed to maintaining a learning and working environment for all students, faculty, and staff that is fair, humane, and responsible—an environment that supports career and educational advancement on the basis of job and academic performance…. Relationship violence, stalking, and sexual misconduct are not tolerated at Michigan State University.” It is a privilege to call ourselves Spartans, one that carries a responsibility to adhere to standards of behavior, on campus and off, that should be well understood by all. We know from Title IX reports that a large proportion of our sexual assaults happen on campus, that all too often those involved are familiar with each other, and that alcohol consumption is often involved. We can do better with our campus relationship climate, and I’ll continue reaching out to people and groups in the days ahead for advice and suggestions that can move us toward the kind of campus we all want to be associated with. Finally, I viewed with great concern a recent ESPN report that gathered considerable national attention in no small part because it showed a promotional graphic of our head football and men’s basketball coaches with Larry Nassar. This was a sensationalized package of reporting that contained allegations and insinuations that we are now reviewing. The coaches were asked to refrain from comment while the reports were examined. That has been a burden that must be lifted. I hope that MSU can soon respond in full and affirm the integrity and probity that has been the hallmark of these two respected coaches. It isn’t easy to live under a microscope. I’m proud of how so many members of the Spartan community have expressed concern for the survivors in so many ways. I’m pleased—but frankly not surprised—by the willingness of so many to commence the hard work of making real change in order to achieve an environment that truly is fair, humane, and responsible. To that I would add safe and civil. I’m fully aware that there is a lot of work to do and not much time to do it. I appreciate your support as we together address the urgent tasks in front of us. Because this is how Spartans show their will. |
February 13th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
They need to heal first.
February 13th, 2018 at 5:14 PM ^
Because they are the wounded victims in all of this.
February 13th, 2018 at 5:17 PM ^
The lawyers haven't drafted a document that can't be picked apart yet under cross-examination.
February 14th, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^
they have to check if Allswede's claims are supported by documention, and if so, it's damage control time, and if not, oh hey, we're innocent! That woman is making false claims! We are the victims of a hit piece! We run a high integrity institution...oh wait. Well, forget that last statement. But our football and basketball coaches are great guys!
February 13th, 2018 at 10:49 PM ^
In summary - we are so insecure about Michigan that we mortgaged the entire school to be competitive with them in sports. Damn the safety of women on campus.
Burn it down.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:19 PM ^
Oh, no mention of that conflict of interest in that little statement? I'll be curious to see what happens when the faculty senate conducts their vote of no confidence. Until then, I expect more of these nothing burger statements from that school.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:20 PM ^
Sounds a little whiney about the immense number of information requests and such that MSU has to respond to. Yeah no shit, let something as disturbing as he Nassar scandal go on for decades and that'll happen to you.
Also I too look forward to whether MSU's internal investigation into Izzo & Dantonio will "affirm the integrity and probity that has been a hallmark of these two reqpected coaches." I don't have much faith given MSU's history of "internal investigations." Wonder how MSU will try to deny/defend Dantonio's history of having players connected to criminal behavior that went unpunished.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
All these unfortunate things have happened to them and continue to happen. This is the exact mentality of a guilty-as-hell prisoner who spends the rest of his life insisting on his innocence.
No, bad things happened because you institutionally fucked up for years, in large part to protect your precious Mork and Ewok. And to hell with the multiple poor young women who were assaulted/raped by your roid-raging "student athletes."
February 13th, 2018 at 5:19 PM ^
To be fair, it's not about protecting Mork and Ewok... It's about protecting the brand, that's why they did nothing to Nassar who had no connection to those two. So they will protect those two in order to protect the brand. Once it is in the best interest of the brand to oust them, they'll go. A la ex-pres / ad.
February 13th, 2018 at 6:29 PM ^
that's the whole point/problem. The University's admissions and donations and support is (perceived or in reality) so closely tied to and dependent upon the brand that Izzo and Dantonio have created and the success that they've had.
That's why Nassar was protected, absolutely, and it would be doubly damaging for something to happen to Izzo and Dantonio because the brand would be hit and the creators of the brand. They're fine letting the prez and the AD take the fall as long as the coaches that make the brand are protected.
February 14th, 2018 at 10:25 AM ^
Absolutely correct. Not many really give a shit about Lou Simmons. Izzo and Dantonio are the feirce protectors who have vanquished the real devil that's always haunted the Spartan psyche--the inferiority complex.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:21 PM ^
I half expected him to drop a "fake news" when speaking about ESPN
February 13th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
I actually thought it was a decent letter... until the paragraph that apparently exonerates Izzo and D'Antonio. Up to that point, I thought it was about all you could expect from an interim president taking over in a crisis.* It addressed the important points (document production, compliance with various investigations, what they've learned from Title IX reports, etc.). It's not like legal counsel would allow him to say much more... but that last part undoes anything reasonable said above, IMO.
*(Or whatever the appropriate descriptor is here)
February 13th, 2018 at 5:09 PM ^
"shitstorm" would be pretty apt as a descriptor....
February 13th, 2018 at 6:40 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 6:05 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 6:31 PM ^
as regards to the ESPN piece and complaining that "it's hard living under a microscope". Well, it's only hard if that requires you to change your previous terrible behavior.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
many other parts I could edit before you embarass yourself Mr. engler, but one thing....
" where safety, TRANSPARENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY, INTEGRITY, respect, and civility are hallmarks."
there, try that.....
February 13th, 2018 at 4:24 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:25 PM ^
When Disrespekt goes too far. The "chip on the shoulder" mentality has fueled some great teams in football and basketball, but it has reached the tipping point.
It has now spread to the entire university and fan base and they go into instant defense mode. ESPN is out to get them, the legal system is out to get them, they think they are victims here too. The "us against the world" mentality has consumed them and they are now blinded. They can't fix that until they bring in outside leadership for a culture change.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:26 PM ^
"I hope that MSU can soon respond in full and affirm the integrity and probity that has been the hallmark of these two respected coaches."
Last week alone, we turned over data equivalent to some 45,000 pages of documents, emails, and other materials to William Forsyth, the independent special counsel who is heading the investigation for the Attorney General’s Office.
No comment on #1 - it speaks for itself.
Comment on #2: Okay, last week was good. But, what about the last 20 years where you obstructed justice at every turn?
February 13th, 2018 at 4:47 PM ^
LOL: "... we turned over data ... " - oh, when investigators came in and seized it? More spin like:
"... and the Attorney General’s Office, at MSU’s request, is conducting an investigation...."
AG didn't need to be asked, doesn't need MSU's permission.
February 13th, 2018 at 8:35 PM ^
While this is true, the unfortunate reality is that the AG did absolutely nothing until MSU 'asked' for an investigation into thier (MSU's) handling of the situation. This is different from MSU asking for an investigation into what, why, and how it happened, BTW...
February 13th, 2018 at 8:43 PM ^
I don't think that's necessarily true. I seem to recall that the AG was waiting until after the first week of victim statements. This let MSU take the premptive strike of "we're inviting the AG to investigate."
February 13th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
Looks like MSU's investigation will mirror the Robert Mueller investigation. A bunch of good ole boys on the special counsel to make sure Mork and Izzo are safe.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
uhhhh
February 13th, 2018 at 6:01 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:28 PM ^
Tells me apparently Truscott Rossman (the firm Engler hired to help do strategic communications) leader John Truscott is doing an interview with Mike DeCourcy of TSN/BTN where he's ready to just debase all of the ESPN investigation. What I don't understand is this just leads to more he said/she said but now it's just ESPN's word vs MSU's word. I don't know when or if the facts will come out about this but if it's one thing we are certain of, Dantonio and Izzo are untouchable within their own school. It would take something cataclysmic to break for either of them to be removed by someone other than themselves.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:30 PM ^
integrity and probity that has been the hallmark of these two respected coaches
How does he know that?
Or is he just going to declare "It is so", and move on as if nothing ever happened?
February 13th, 2018 at 6:40 PM ^
until they couldn't anymore. Why make that claim at the same time you're telling them not to say anything because you aren't sure of the full facts?
And even if Izzo and Mork did follow procedure in terms of investigations, there is still a serious moral issue of not holding these players accountable for things they knew to have happened, which likely enabled further bad behavior. It's a slap in the face to all the victims to claim that their lack of discipline for purely selfish reasons - simply to win sports games and protect their legacies and the schools brand - amounts to "intergrity and probity."
Unbelievable triple down on this.
February 13th, 2018 at 8:28 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
It's fair to say there are some claims/insinuations in the OTL report that have reasonably been questioned. MSU is going to have to tread a fine line here, but it will be interesting to see how this all unfolds in relation to Izzo/Dantonio. Have to think Engler would feel good about the two coaches and their previous actions to put out a statement like that.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:35 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:46 PM ^
You serious, dog?
February 13th, 2018 at 6:45 PM ^
they've certainly got an army of attorneys in there. You know they reveiwed all 45,000 pages before handing them over. Guy makes a good point that he probably wouldn't have made such a strong statement without an idea of whether there is a way anyone could prove or disprove Allswede's allegations.
It's unlikely there would have been documentation of Izzo or Dantonio's involvement in any investigations so without someone else coming forward to corroborate Allswede's claims, probably impossible to prove everything.
Engler is circling the wagons hoping no one cracks, but good bet at this point there isn't any damning evidence for them.
February 14th, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
Allswede also came out after the piece and said she has never spoken to Izzo or Dantonio and never meant this to be about them in particular.
February 14th, 2018 at 3:24 PM ^
her most damning allegation came from an MSU attorney allegedly telling her that Dantonio handled an allegation by calling the players parents or something like that.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:29 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:41 PM ^
I think that sentence was written by Mike Valenti.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:31 PM ^
of Mark Dantonio, Jeffrey Dahmer was a vegetarian.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:35 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:37 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 5:29 PM ^
No... if this was Michigan. Michigan has a bigger brand than just the sports teams and it would self report to protect the integrity of the broader institution. The NCAA wouldn't need to do their job because the University would.
That's what is wrong with the NCAA. Withhold everything and stonewall them and you'll be just fine. Go belly up and you are in for it.
February 13th, 2018 at 11:34 PM ^
exactly correct.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:38 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:42 PM ^
February 13th, 2018 at 4:39 PM ^
they wanna get a coach fired i'd put all my ammo on Dantonio, 16 incidents, much easier to get at him than Izzo.
February 13th, 2018 at 4:40 PM ^
I don't give a shit how inconvenient all the investigations and FOIA requests are. You know what's REALLY inconvenient? Being raped as a child.
The wisest approach here would be to say, "We are throwing open the doors and being as transparent as the law will allow. We will not stop investigating until we have uncovered every bad actor, every person who covered up the truth, and every person who significantly contributed to a culture of molestation, harrasment and assault, no matter how highly placed or beloved. This is the price we must pay for the actions of those we employed, and we accept that price."
February 13th, 2018 at 4:40 PM ^