State Investigator Report says MSU Stonewalls Nassar Probe

Submitted by BlueCube on December 21st, 2018 at 10:57 AM

Shocking I know. Not a good look.

The investigator:

-Found emails discussing how to keep information secret

-Federal prosecutor hired to investigate was in fact trying to steer legislation in MSU's favor

-Sent reams of irrelevant documents to investigators

-had attorneys attend meeting with victims so they wouldn't be as open with the abuse

And so much more.

 

Link

roosterbaan

December 21st, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^

no institutional accountability whatsoever. you knew it would only stay that way when they hired a career politician to head the university. pretty sad, but at least it is getting out in the open somewhat (although it remains to be seen if there will be any real consequences for MSU)

Larry Appleton

December 21st, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^

Cripes!  This is getting so bad, you'd almost think MSU was a Catholic school!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I KID!!!!!  I'm a (semi-regular) church-going papist, myself.  Lighten up, people.  It's Christmas!

Mr Miggle

December 21st, 2018 at 11:24 AM ^

Engler will leave before long, take a few of his henchmen/women with him and they'll get all the blame for this. There's no real accountability for their bad behavior.

I do have a few questions though. Does MSU think this matters or that all of their problems are just due to Nassar? Will they actually hire a credible president with a mandate to make the changes they see fit? Or will they just hire another MSU grad who will talk a good game, but do little?

 

redwhiteandMGOBLUE

December 21st, 2018 at 11:25 AM ^

So far they've survived the largest, known, college institutional rape/sexual and mental abuse scandal by obfuscating, deceiving, slight of hand, arrogance and destest of victims.  Sadly, pulling back the rug and uncovering the processes of their detestable behavior in the handling of this awful situation won't matter in the least.

And I do not count giving golden parachutes to Simon and Hollis and asking the gymnastics coach and the head of their medical college to retire as any form of significant justice mitigated out to the hundreds of victims that suffered at the hands of monsters created by their hideous athletic/medical/campus culture.

Nothing of significance has happened to that school thus far and I honestly believe nothing ever will.

bluewave720

December 21st, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^

I agree with you and it's INFURIATING.  

I do not have the expertise needed to create a website, but I would personally contribute $100 (or more if needed) to anyone who would create a place to put all the Nassar info.  I'm envisioning a website dedicated to the timeline of these events with MSU's responses at every intersection. 

If the "time capsule" was done well/cleanly, it could be a great place to direct people who don't believe what's happened, or want to just respond with "Brendan Gibbons" every time we bring it up.  I know we end some posts about MSU with "FYS" (fuck you sparty for those that don't know).  I'd love to end a message with "WontForgetGreen.com" or whatever.

throckman

December 21st, 2018 at 7:16 PM ^

I disagree. MSU's application numbers were WAY down this year - nearly a 10% drop. IIRC only two other B1G schools saw decreases in apps, and they were off only like 1%. As a result, their admission rate went WAY up, it's now nearly 80%, similar to WMU, CMU, EMU. This will be disastrous for their retention and graduation rates, so expect their overall ranking to slide starting in 2022. 

Their DO school's reputation is in tatters, and their residency match rate fell off a cliff. This is arguably the most important metric of a med school's success.  It had been 15-20 percentage points higher than the national average for more than 5 years, but this past cycle, it was < 5 percentage points over the average. This is BAD, and it is largely because of Nassar's stain. The dean of their DO school (the new one, not the one in jail) also now reports to the MD school's dean, not the president. For an academic college, this is humiliating.

I agree it seems like they're getting off lightly, but lift the hood, and the engine is...faring poorly.

redwhiteandMGOBLUE

December 21st, 2018 at 8:34 PM ^

How did you feel about Penn St. immediately after the Sandusky news hit in Nov. 2011?  Did you see them having their 2012 sanctions lifted in 2014 and their football program winning the B1G conference in 2016 and playing in the Rose Bowl?

We can revisit your 2020 statement even sooner, like next year and I bet you'll see all of those numbers back on an upward trajectory if not near prescandal levels.

Too many other things will happen within college athletics, pro sports, politics and life in general that will draw away attention from this horrendous situation and sadly, those scumbags in East Lansing will be carrying on, business as usual.

xtramelanin

December 21st, 2018 at 11:40 AM ^

and outside of the people that knew a year ago, nobody cares.  people in other states frequently confuse MSU with us.  sparty is a virtual unknown beyond the borders of this state.  seriously, other than the actual victims and some michigan fans like us, literally nobody on planet earth cares about sparty, knows about sparty, or will remember that MSU = molester state university.  

Hail to the Vi…

December 21st, 2018 at 12:56 PM ^

Not that I don't agree with your point (I do), but in fairness, MSU has a huge alum base. It has one of the largest student enrollments in the country - close to ASU and Texas.

Not that they are highly thought of, but they are relevant nationally in that regard. Having said all that, East Lansing is a hell hole and a scummy place to go to college.

Mr Miggle

December 21st, 2018 at 2:11 PM ^

Students thinking about applying there, professors applying for jobs know the difference between MSU and Michigan.

Ultimately that's where MSU will pay, if they do. Lower rankings due to less competitive admissions and attracting fewer grants. It will still be a major state university, but they were trying to move up in the world and now they're trying not to slide too far back.

Their athletic teams have probably already paid whatever price they were going to. MSU did have to change some rules in their AD due to the Nassar publicity. That cost them Blackwell, Corley, Vance and King. Of course that only means they now follow the same rules most other schools already were..

JPC

December 21st, 2018 at 4:08 PM ^

What, that nobody knows MSU?

I'll tell you that it's absolutely true. I'm from California, and the only reason I had ever heard of State was due to their football success. Most people who aren't from Big 10 country have no idea that Michigan even has two large state schools. For most people in the country, MSU might as well be Wayne State. 

I Bleed Maize N Blue

December 21st, 2018 at 11:09 AM ^

"MSU stonewalls the very investigation it pledged to support."

"An institution truly interested in the truth would not have acted as MSU has."

"For as long as MSU frustrates the search for the truth, we will never be fully confident that we have it."

FYS.

1VaBlue1

December 21st, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^

If anyone is expecting negative consequences from this, don't.  The same state legislature and Gov't that ran the 'investigation', will be the one that looks at this as a criminal investigation for cover-up.  In short - it won't happen.  You think the AG will do anything about it?  He's the same AG that appointed MSU boosters to do the investigation in the first place!

Yeah, I know, the Governor, Lt Gov, and AG were all voted out.  But the state legislature has been busy neutering all power from those positions.  Can't have 'the will of the people' actually matter, can we?  A criminal investigation into the stonewalling would no doubt turn up criminal charges against people the 'ruling party' is trying so hard to protect right now.

Burn it all down.

turtleboy

December 21st, 2018 at 11:35 AM ^

The backwards thinking here just blows my mind. Just how, exactly, does stonewalling the investigation, attacking victims, being thoroughly corrupt, and presenting the university as an evil, soulless institution help the university? How in the world does acting in the worst way you can possibly imagine make you look better?!

608Monroe

December 21st, 2018 at 11:44 AM ^

Michigan State reached out to my high school senior daughter recently about attending the Honors Program, and then followed it up with their acceptance.  They even sent her a nice MSU flag, and a very sweet letter.  "Who Will. Spartans Will" it said.

F*ck that school.  I would never send my daughter to that culture and those monsters, regardless of their academic merits.

608Monroe

December 21st, 2018 at 1:09 PM ^

It’s a decent academic school. It has its strengths. The Honors College is lesser known and actually quite highly rated.  So let’s be honest about them. 

But they don’t give a sh*t about anything but their own reputation (which is ironic in how that strategy is affecting their reputation).  

And we’re at the point now where we can safely say — Michigan State does not care for the health and safety of young women.  They should staple that to their press kits.  

potomacduc

December 21st, 2018 at 11:58 AM ^

With the recent Stephen Shipps news, we might want to tone down the self-righteousness. I recognize that the Shipps allegations have only recently come to light and that information is sparse. I also recognize that there are likely orders of magnitude differences between Shipps and Nasser and between the level of enabling provided by the two universities. However, saying "MSU had an epic POS creep for decades, while UM only had a garden variety creep employed for decades so we're better!" Is not a good look. It doesn't mean we can't continue to criticize MSU for their actions, it does mean we might not want to do so from a slightly lower pedestal.

608Monroe

December 21st, 2018 at 12:15 PM ^

I don't think anyone is saying the Shipps situation (or others like it) aren't vile, or couldn't happen anywhere, including Michigan.  Sad as it is to say, any big community/campus will have it's predators.  But accountability and action are what DEFINE the community.  

If Michigan behaved in the manner that MSU is currently (read: insulation, protectionism, discrediting, etc.), I would demand immediate action and transparency as an alum, and back it up by pulling my alum dollars and support until it's handled properly.  I'm not seeing anything like that at MSU from the administration or the alumni base.  And it's disgusting.

They have a horrible culture there, and I for one am glad to have no part of it.

potomacduc

December 21st, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^

If in fact is true that Shipps' misdeeds have been going on for decades, there may be a deficit in accountability and action. The Daily article does note that at least one professor may have known of previous allegations before he was hired.  I'm not saying there are accountability issues, but it appears there may be. 

potomacduc

December 21st, 2018 at 3:18 PM ^

8 negs on this comment. I am pretty sure that's a record for me. I don't comment often, so that's not a high bar, but I wouldn't have predicted I would set my personal record on this topic.

I hope as much as anyone that the transgressions all happened long ago and that Michigan's hands are clean. At this point, there appears to be a reasonable expectation of that outcome. Still, I also hope that we demand accountability on this and expect UM to respond accordingly. Apparently having such expectations is threatening to some. Since I am all about setting records, I'll add this comment. I think most here agree with me, but apparently we have some folks who would fit in nicely with the Sparty and Penn State denial crowds.

Watching From Afar

December 21st, 2018 at 12:04 PM ^

I went to MSU for undergrad and know a lot of people involved in the Nassar saga; patients of his who were assaulted, and others who weren't. I personally went to MSU Sports Medicine for surgery as did my sister who saw Nassar (luckily wasn't assaulted).

This whole thing is a joke at this point. A fucked up joke. Back during the trial and shortly after a bunch of people put up green Xs over their Facebook photos (sooo powerful) and said they would not support the University in any way until Engler was gone and they made serious changes and retributions to victims and the student body at large.

Come football season, they took down the green Xs, went to tailgates and football games, and not a single peep since. They don't care. People I went to school with who know victims of sexual assult Do. Not. Care.

I'd say there's less than 30% of alumni who actually feel bad about the whole thing and will actually stop supporting the school. The rest will show "outrage" when a story pops up but claim it's just a few bad actors. Then immediately move on to basketball season.

Personally, I got into Michigan and MSU for grad school. The only reason MSU is even in the running is because of cost. I don't want to be associated with that University.

NCalBlue86

December 21st, 2018 at 1:24 PM ^

This is so true, and sad. I have sparty friends/relatives and none of them really care about this. They are way more concerned with football and basketball..and oh, hating Jim Harbaugh. Amazing how they despise him. I recently asked a young cousin who was going out of her way to tell my what a jerk Harbaugh was...."how can you like dantonio or the angry elf?" She was shocked that I have zero respect for the elf. And thinks Dantonio is the classiest guy around. I just said we'll have to agree to disagree and my disgust for her school's coaches has nothing to do with results on the field, it's all the off the field stuff they ignore. 

Watching From Afar

December 21st, 2018 at 5:24 PM ^

The Dantonio stuff annoys me to no end.

He's a self-righteous, condescending, ass hole. If Harbaugh did/said any of the things Dantonio has said/done, MSU fans would make it their mantra for decades. When Dantonio is an ass, they turn it into a meme and jizz over his smile. Don't get me wrong g, Harbaugh is arrogant and says some really cringey things too, but he's not praised for it.

Having gone to MSU (and played a sport) the number of teammates who talked crap about Michigan (who was better than us all but my senior year) drove me nuts. The inferiority complex and obseisson made races insufferable because it was all about beating Michigan, then everyone else. They care about 1 thing and if a little sexual assault is running rampant through their University, so what? It's just like 3 people who had nothing to do with the cross country/swimming/whatever team so it's ok.

old98blue

December 21st, 2018 at 12:10 PM ^

It really bothers me that these are fellow michiganders, they walk amongst us. at least there's a border between us and a cooler poopers, If Only They were to build a wall there