SIAP: Freep Article (Sorry) on MSU "Culture of Silence"

Submitted by FauxMo on

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/01/28/michigan-sta…

Sure seems that this goes way beyond Nasser, or even just athletes. A student waiting 117 days for a ruling on her accusation of sexual assault against an instructor? Students unable to even get appointments with rape crisis counselors, or getting turned away from a rape hotline? This is jiust really ugly stuff. Wrap together Nasser, the Izzo (Walton, Paine + Appling), Dantonio (4 rapes last year alone, plus the other stories coming out), and what appears to be a similar attitude about sexual violence across the entire campus, and this is just really bad. 

True Blue Grit

January 28th, 2018 at 6:09 PM ^

I think there are very few on the scale of what we are seeing at MSU right now.  All the evidence points toward a culture of protecting the reputation of athletes accused of crimes AND the institution overall - at the expense of victims.  It's hard to fathom how all this came to be, since we should presume that the vast majority of people who attend and graduate from MSU don't support this kind of philosophy.   But sometimes within the leadership of any organization, a mindset starts to develop that is perpetuated from department to department, or from mentor to successor.  

However it happened, what is clear here is that a global RESET button needs to be pushed within the MSU community, at least on the topic of sexual abuse.  

 

MGlobules

January 28th, 2018 at 7:35 PM ^

was common knowledge, talked about here, on MSU message boards, going back a decade. Where were the News and Free Press all this time? Doing a big expose of Michigan that involved stretching. Glad they are jumping on the bandwagon now, after the Indy Star and ESPN uncover these stories, but. . . they could have helped shut this down, too. 

Mr Miggle

January 28th, 2018 at 12:20 PM ^

The first one is the kind of make believe that people spout when they get caught.

Most of these things weren't deeply buried. MSU has had a particularly bad reputation for tolerating sexual assaults and other crimes by athletes against their students for years.

wildbackdunesman

January 28th, 2018 at 6:35 PM ^

If "most big schools have similar skeletons in the closet" then it is all the more reason to hammer MSU basketball and football into oblivion with NCAA sanctions so that other schools will not accept rape culture.

Rape is an evil and violent crime.  The NCAA should err on the side of going too extreme rather than soft if MSU coaches and AD officials helped sweep rapes under the rug for wins.

Schools need to feel that it isn't worth the risk of post season bans and scholarship losses to help a rapist get off and win them games.

MRoseBowl89

January 28th, 2018 at 11:56 AM ^

The pervasive nature of this cover up and enabling is just staggering.  

What was it the MSU board of trustee said," People are lining up to get in MSU?"

The dismissive arrogance toward these last 10 plus years of a cultural blight just makes me think MSU's trangressions are widespread on an unprecednted level.  Time will tell, but it appears that this was a singular focused machine of winning sports events and games.  No shame.  No stone unturned, if it meant winning.

MSU's story has so much smoke now though that they will be made an example.  There is no way this story gets buried.  It will get even uglier. 

I think the narrative has to focus on the victims and their families.  Get those stories out and there's little the MSU slappies can say to stop the reckoning.  Truth will hurt but it will be brought to light.  Break the silence!

Tater

January 29th, 2018 at 1:23 AM ^

Don't try to normalize the Culture of Sexual Assault at Michgan State University by insinuating that it "happens at other schools."

While some other schools may indeed do this, it is not "business as usual," nor is it commonplace.  What happened at MSU is very, very wrong and is the biggest sexual abuse scandal in the history of sports.  

Nothing of this scope is happening anywhere else or there would be some obvious signs that something was going on.  You know: like the signs the media and the MSU administration ignored during the reigns of Nassar, Izzo and Dantonio...

badandboujee

January 28th, 2018 at 12:25 PM ^

Yes I agree. Poor choice of words. Don't kill me.

For the record, I find the Nassar shit magnitudes worse than this. I'm just annoyed that the Dantonio/Izzo issues are getting more attention now just because they are bigger names

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

January 28th, 2018 at 12:34 PM ^

because they are still in their positions and they are powerful people within an organization with a systemic issue. Nassar is in jail for life - not much “reckoning” left for the media there.

Either of them could change the narrative instantly by taking a leave of absence, admitting issues were mishandled in the past and offering to cooperate. Instead, they’re trying to wall off their programs from the larger issue. There will dozens or hundreds of incidents for people to reopen just based on the number of years and number of players.

The only way for MSU to move past this situation is those two must exit. The media and PR narrative won’t go away because there are too many skeletons in their closets with players escaping punishment.

Don

January 28th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^

You're "annoyed" that dozens of rapes and sexual assaults are "getting more attention now?"

 

"Annoyed?"

 

Is there some sort of bizarre, fucked-up contest in your brain over which is the worst form of sexual assault, and you're getting "annoyed" because the one you think is less horrible is now getting attention?

BigBlue02

January 28th, 2018 at 3:16 PM ^

Saying that you’re annoyed that Izzo and Dantonio are correctly having their feet held to the fire after enabling a rape culture for years does make you morally inferior to us. We are on the correct side of this scandal and you are not. Your opinion is trash.

LSAClassOf2000

January 28th, 2018 at 2:17 PM ^

I don't think anyone is minimizing the Nassar fallout with the revelations against Izzo and Dantonio. The larger point here is that there is a culture at MSU which for years fostered predatory behavior, squashed complaints and hid everything from scrutiny as best that it could. It's a systemic problem, and while the net has reached into the revenue programs, I don't think anyone will forget what was revealed first.

bacon1431

January 28th, 2018 at 1:47 PM ^

BecUse we don’t need to frame these things with “If you had a daughter/wife/female relative of any kind.” It’s wrong and people should feel that way regardless of whether you have affiliation with females. Goes for all situations with an oppressor and victim. You don’t need association to feel a certain way about it.

PopeLando

January 28th, 2018 at 4:50 PM ^

A LOT of people out there show a surprising lack of empathy. They can't connect to an experience on a right/wrong level unless they have a personal stake in the matter. It's REALLY concerning when the thought process goes like:

"Well I'm not sure how I feel, I mean I like [insert school or person] so I don't see how it's a big deal..wait I have a sister THIS IS A FUCKING TRAVESTY"