Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • A7

FREEP.COM THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2018 7A The Nassar Case LANSING The drum beat of opposition to Michigan State University President Lou An- na Simon got even louder Wednesday when the full state House of Representatives called on the embattled president to resign. The resolution, which passed on a vote of 96-11, is nonbinding, but it builds on a consis- tent message coming from the state Capitol that Simon has to go because of the univer- handling of the sexual abuse case against former sports doctor Larry Nassar. Many legislators, including all four leaders of the House and Senate, have called on Simon to leave her job at the helm of MSU or be by the Board of Trustees. The resolution adds more pressure. The vote came just hours after Ingham County Circuit Court Judge Rosemarie Aqui- lina hearing from more than 150 girls and women over the last week, who said they were molested by Nassar over the last 20 years.

In sentencing Nassar to 40-175 years in prison, in addition to the 60 years in federal prison he faces on child pornography charges, Aquilina said she was signing his war- Speaker of the House Tom Leonard, R-De- Witt Township, said while the resolution dealt solely with Simon, like to see the entire board resign or be impeached by the Legislature. do believe the board of trustees needs to resign. never seen a situation been this he said. trustees care more about their skyboxes in the fall than these 150 victims. And absolutely State Rep.

Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor, said he decided to sponsor the resolution after the majority of the board decided last week to continue its support of Simon, as well as provide closure and acknowledgement to vic- tims and send a signal to the university that this has got to be The resolution says that MSU missed many opportunities to stop Nassar over the years and declined to fully investigate or sus- pend Nassar from his job examining young women with sports injuries. lack of leadership and accountability among highest ranks allowed a preda- tor to continue to abuse, and victims to in silence, for far too the resolution reads. university president, Lou Anna K. Simon must ultimately take responsibility for her actions, or lack thereof, and the university culture that allowed this to happen. Michigan State University, one of our public universities, and our state deserve bet- ter from its The only way the university, community and state can move beyond the em- of the Nassar crimes is to get rid of Simon, the resolution says.

have lost in the ability of President Lou Anna K. Simon to lead a trans- parent investigation, to implement changes that will ensure it never happens again, to protect students, and to lead Michigan State University forward We call on Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Si- mon to resign immediately or for the Michi- gan State University Board of Trustees to re- move her from the of President of Michigan State Most of the Board of Trustees said over the weekend that they still support- ed Simon, but a growing chorus of faculty, students and alumni have been calling for Si- ouster, especially after it became clear that university were told of the abuse repeatedly over the last several years and lit- tle or no action was taken against Nassar, who was also the team doctor for USA Gym- nastics. The magnitude of the case came to a head in the past week as more than 150 girls and women, some of them Olympic medalists, gave impact statements in court, detailing the of the abuse they at the hands of Nassar. Gov.

Rick Snyder said not getting in- volved in calling for resignation. governor would like to focus on how the state can help with healing for the survi- vors and rally around them to make sure they are supported said Snyder spokes- woman Anna Heaton. Free Press writer Paul Egan and Lansing State Justin Hinkley contributed. House to Simon: Resign or be Resolution is nonbinding but bolsters consistent message Kathleen Gray Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK LANSING Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said Wednesday he will wait until sentencing hearings for Larry Nassar are com- pleted in both Ingham and Eaton counties be- fore announcing his plans for a review of Mich- igan State role in the sex abuse scandal. Schuette, speaking on Big a syndicated radio program hosted by Michael Patrick Shiels, said now is the time for victims to speak and not going to upstage Nassar, an MSU doctor who has pleaded guilty to federal child pornography charges and state-level sexual assault charges, is accused of abusing more than 150 girls and young wom- en, most of them MSU gymnasts, under the guise of providing medical treatment.

His sentencing hearing in Ingham County Circuit Court with victims giving their state- ments concluded Wednesday, its seventh day before Judge Rosemarie Aquilina. Aquilina sentenced him to 40 to 175 years in prison as part of a plea deal on seven counts of gree criminal sexual conduct involving more than 160 girls and women over more than two decades. Schuette, who is seeking the Republican nomination for gov- ernor, said next sen- tencing hearing, in Eaton Coun- ty Circuit Court, is expected to get under way Jan. 31. done, there will be an immediate announce- Schuette said.

He said he will call for full review, a trans- parent report, and recommendations so this never happens Last week, the MSU Board of Trustees, which, along with President Lou Anna Simon, is under for not adequately investigating complaints about Nassar and not acting more quickly to stop the abuse, asked Schuette to conduct a review. Andrea Bitely, a Schuette spokeswoman, would not say whether the inquiry is already under way and only the announcement is pending, or whether Schuette wants the sen- tences handed down before he begins the re- view. Mark Totten, a law professor at MSU and the Democratic candidate for attorney general in 2014, said Wednesday that no delay is warrant- ed and a is not what is needed. be very clear, prosecutors perform and Totten said in a Facebook post. con- duct investigations and bring criminal charges, if the evidence Schuette, who has faced criticism for not investigating role in the abuse scandal sooner, said on the radio program that he and his team on sexual assault charges and he made sure, as part of his plea agreement, that every Nassar victim who wanted to speak at his sentencing hearing had an opportunity to do so.

House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, appearing with Schuette on the same radio program, said an investigation is absolutely needed. need to know who knew what, when they knew said Leonard, a Repub- lican candidate for attorney general. Leonard, who called for resigna- tion in December, blasted MSU trustees Wednesday and said they step up and do their jobs, they need to step down as Leonard said he was glad to hear the NCAA is now prepared to investigate MSU over the Nassar scandal. just maybe, these guys might start waking up if they out they might lose he said. Trustees put sitting in a skybox, four days a year at a football game, above these Schuette plans of MSU role in Nassar case Paul Egan Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK Bill Schuette Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon will step down as leader of MSU, the school announced late Wednesday, hours after the Free Press reported the move was coming.

tragedies are politicized, blame is inev- she said in statement. president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger. I understand, and that is why I have limited my personal statements. Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to put Team MSU Throughout my career, I have consistently and persistently spoken and worked on behalf of Team MSU. I have tried to make it not about me.

I urge those who have supported my work to understand that I cannot make it about me now. Therefore, I am tendering my resignation as president according to the terms of my em- ployment She would make the announcement one day after a judge sentenced Larry Nassar to 40 to 175 years in prison as part of a plea deal on sev- en counts of criminal sexual con- duct involving more than 160 girls and women over more than two decades. Simon had spent her entire career from the mid-1970s on at the university. Board chairman Brian Breslin praised her. Simon has served with distinc- tion as President for 13 years and has been a constant presence at the university for more than 40 years.

She literally has devoted her entire professional life to this institution, and more than anyone else has helped make MSU a national and international leader in higher education. We will be working through the details of transition with President Simon through the rest of the week and will announce them as soon as we Board members had racheted up their suc- cession planning in recent days, including at a nearly closed-door meeting on Fri- day. Unknown is when an interim leader would step in and for how long, people with knowl- edge of discussions said. There are a number of names that have been raised to the board as possible interim presi- dents, including former Michigan Govs. John Engler, James Blanchard and Jennifer Gran- holm.

Also raised as a possible interim choice is former Grand Valley State University Presi- dent Mark Murray, who also served as presi- dent of Meijer, Inc. Engler, Blanchard and Mur- ray were all mentioned as a possible MSU president when Peter McPherson left in 2004 and Simon was promoted from provost to president. Engler and Blanchard are Michigan State graduates. Simon has been under incredible pressure for several weeks to step aside. That pressure has racheted up during the last two weeks as 156 sexual assault victims appeared in court to testify about the abuse they at the hands of Larry Nassar, which reached back as far as 1997.

been telling our stories for 18 months, and yet to answer a single question I Rachael Denhollander said in court. Denhollander the police report in 2016 that led to guilty plea and sen- issue a press release playing word games, saying there was no cover-up be- cause no one believed. The reason no one be- lieved, is because no one listened. It has been 18 months and I am still asking questions, and I am still getting the same answer. one handled the reports of abuse prop- erly.

Victims were silenced and even forced to go back for further sexual assault. They did not listen in 1997 or 1998 or 1999 or 2000 or 2004 or Many have taken time to call out MSU and Simon for her handling of the situation, repeat- edly talking about how they MSU cials of the abuse. Simon has said she received a report in 2014 of Nassar being cleared by the university in a sexual assault claim, but said she did not re- ceive the full case That matter to the victims. hell or high water, we will take every last one of you down that could have stopped this Amy Labadie, a victim and for- mer gymnast, said in court. know how you can still call yourself a president, because I said Lind- sey Lemke, a current MSU student and former MSU gymnast, about Simon.

are no presi- dent of mine. You say you responsible for this. I wish you would come up to this podi- um and be half as brave as all of us have had to be the past year and a half. To be brave enough to be a public survivor and a competing athlete of your university who let me down. To be brave enough to come up here and tell us the reason why you think that you are As testimony came pouring out, the pressure on Simon to step aside grew.

The MSU student government called for changes at the of the university. Poli- tician after politician called for her to resign and asked the state Legislature to launch an investigation. The board initially supported Simon. They met for hours behind closed doors last Friday and emerged with a statement of sup- port. Then, the next night, Trustee Mitch Ly- ons issued a statement calling for Simon to step down.

Then, on Monday, in a radio interview, Trustee Joel Ferguson said Simon would never leave and praised her. She was defended by the high- est employees including basketball coach Tom Izzo. have to say, though, that I have the ut- most the utmost faith and respect for the leadership of our president, too, at Michigan State. a woman who has dedicated over 40 years and been here 33 with her, and I think I know what she stands In the end, the public pressure was too much, as victims, students, alumni, politi- cians, the state House of Representative and nearly every media organization in the state called for her to no longer be leader. Simon was named president in January 2005, the stop in her long journey at MSU, which began in the 1970s.

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or Follow him on Twitter: MSU President Simon resigns amid fallout David Jesse Detroit Free Press USA TODAY NETWORK Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon, left, is confronted by former MSU gymnast Lindsey Lemke, right. GETTY IMAGES hell or high water, we will take every last one of you down that could have stopped this Amy Labadie, a victim and former gymnast, speaking in court.