Michigan State University’s (MSU) athletic director on Friday retired, two days after the university president resigned over the university’s handling of sexual abuse allegations against its disgraced former sports doctor, Larry Nassar.
Mark Hollis, who had been in the job for 10 years, disclosed the move during a meeting with a small group of reporters on campus.
He was asked why he would not stay on.
“Because I care,” Hollis said, holding back tears. “When you look at the scope of everything, that’s the reason I made a choice to retire now. And I hope that has a little bit, a little bit, of helping that healing process.”
Hours later, the university named its vice president to serve as acting president after the departure of president Lou Anna Simon.
Bill Beekman is expected to serve briefly in the role until the board of trustees can hire an interim president and then a permanent leader.
Also Friday, USA Gymnastics confirmed that its entire board of directors would resign as requested by the US Olympic Committee (USOC).
The USOC had threatened to decertify the organization, which besides picking US national teams is the umbrella organization for hundreds of clubs across the US.
Some of the US’ top gymnasts, including Olympians Aly Raisman, McKayla Maroney, Simone Biles and Jordyn Wieber, said they were among Nassar’s victims.
At the university board’s meeting, chairman Brian Breslin said it was “clear that MSU has not been focused enough on the victims.”
The trustees want to resume discussions with those who have sued the school to “reach a fair and just conclusion,” he said.
Talks broke down last year.
The board plans to ask an independent third party to review health and safety at the university, and it wants state Attorney General Bill Schuette to consider appointing a neutral investigator to conduct an inquiry of the Nassar matter “to promote bipartisan acceptance of the results.”
“I am so truly sorry. We failed you,” trustee Brian Mosallam said to the victims.
Beekman is vice president and secretary of the board. He began working at the university in 1995 and previously led the MSU Alumni Association. He has an undergraduate degree from MSU.
“I think our culture here at Michigan State clearly needs to improve,” he said. “We need to be able to make everybody that comes on our campus feel safe.”
Simon submitted her resignation on Wednesday after Nassar, a former Michigan State employee, was sentenced to between 40 and 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 his sentencing hearing were former athletes at the school, and many victims accused the university of mishandling past complaints about Nassar.
“I don’t believe that I’ve ever met him,” Hollis said of Nassar.
He insisted he did not know about complaints of abuse until an Indianapolis Star report in 2016.
Governor Rick Snyder on Friday said he is mulling an inquiry into the university, depending on whether it would interfere with other investigations such as the attorney general’s.
Under the state constitution, the governor can remove or suspend public officers for “gross neglect of duty,” corruption or “other misfeasance or malfeasance.”
“The governor hasn’t seen enough done for the survivors after everything they’ve gone through,” spokeswoman Anna Heaton said. “He wants to make sure that something is being done.”
US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday confirmed that her agency is also investigating the Nassar scandal.
She said in a statement that what happened at the university is “abhorrent” and “cannot happen ever again — there or anywhere.”
The US Department of Education was already reviewing separate complaints about the university’s compliance with Title IX, the law that requires public schools to offer equal opportunities to both genders and compliance with requirements about providing campus crime and security information.
The board expressed support for Simon before her resignation, but she faced pressure from many students, faculty and legislators. While there has been no evidence that Simon or Hollis knew of Nassar’s sexual abuse, some of the women and girls who accused him said they complained to university employees as far back as the late 1990s.
Board members, who are elected in statewide votes, have also come under intense scrutiny.
Two announced they would not seek re-election.
Another, Joel Ferguson, apologized at the meeting for conducting an interview in which he said there was more going on at Michigan State than “this Nassar thing.”
The university faces lawsuits from more than 130 victims.
Ferguson previously had said victims were ambulance chasers seeking a payday.
The university resisted calls for an independent investigation before asking Schuette for a review a week ago.
Dozens of Michigan State students on Friday evening gathered on campus to protest the university’s handling of the Nassar allegations. Some were expected to march to the Breslin Center where the men’s basketball team was hosting Wisconsin on Friday night.
Organizers called for students attending the game to wear teal-colored T-shirts in the “Izzone,” a vocal student cheering section named after head basketball coach Tom Izzo.
In a recent filing, Michigan State asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuits on technical grounds. The university said it has immunity under state law and that the majority of victims were not MSU students at the time of the alleged assaults.
“These arguments can seem disrespectful” to victims, but a defense is required by Michigan State’s insurers, Simon wrote last week in a campus-wide e-mail.
“We have the utmost respect and sympathy” for victims, she added.
The board last month authorized the creation of a US$10 million fund to offer victims counseling and mental health services.
A Title IX probe conducted by the university cleared Nassar of sexual assault allegations in 2014.
He was advised by the school to avoid being alone with patients while treating their “sensitive areas,” but the university did not follow up on and enforce its request.
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.
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