freelion

January 23rd, 2018 at 10:31 PM ^

The question is whether Hollis survives after the multiple issues within his department. It's hard to keep track of all the scandals

stephenrjking

January 23rd, 2018 at 10:45 PM ^

The no confidence vote has not yet taken place; this just begins the process of holding such a vote. Apparently there are over 2000 faculty that will have an opportunity to voice their opinions.

Simon may well be gone by the time the vote is held.

Still blown away by Ferguson's claim that they only spent 10 minutes talking about the issue in the last trustees meeting. Unbelievable. 

Double-D

January 23rd, 2018 at 11:00 PM ^

nature and crimes against small children and young ladies is beyond comprehension. He should be removed immediately.

It amazes me how people in power circles will band together losing sight of integrity. It seems systemic in the MSU culture.

I would not be surprised if Simon knew serious shit about the Football and BBall programs and ethical failures that have been swept away.

killerseafood3

January 24th, 2018 at 7:34 AM ^

I think as others mentioned, the culture in place meant that stuff probably never came across her desk (outside the investigation she knew about regarding the unnamed doctor and never cared to ask one question about).

Leadership and culture go hand in hand. It’s a failure at MSU and everyone needs to go.

1VaBlue1

January 24th, 2018 at 6:43 AM ^

The sad thing is, he is probably the more believable of the directors that have spoken about it.  I mean, he said that with no filter because he's a fucking idiot.  The others (Lyons and Mosallam?) that talked about it last night had identical responses - that most of the meeting was about Nassar and Simon.  

They said what seems reasonable.  But, given the way they've handled this to date, I'd say the lawyers and PR guys got to them and formed up the refute line to back away from Fergeson's idiocy.  I honestly don't know who to believe, but the truth normally lives in the middle ground.  I have no doubt they talked about a host of other topics to keep business things moving forward.  Tone deaf, obstinate, clueless, and careless are all good adjectives for the MSU management team right now.  (Leadership is not a good term for them...)

WolverineHistorian

January 24th, 2018 at 9:51 AM ^

And Ferguson's response when asked why they only spent 10 minutes on it? 

"Because there is so many more things going on at the university than just this Nassar thing."

Dan Wetzel destroyed him over that comment...

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/michigan-state-trustee-board-spent-10-minutes-discussing-nassar-thing-000402380.html

Hail-Storm

January 24th, 2018 at 9:56 AM ^

when I read the article and found out that there is a long way to go before anything happens.

Things to happen;

- Faculty have to vote for a confidence or no confidence by Saturday

- IF (note this has not happened only a call to vote) this happens then it goes to the Senate commitee to decide how to proceed

I thin kthe title needs to be changed until after the vote. My faith in people fell quite a bit after the boards comments, and their focus on how much money she's brought the University. 

BlueCube

January 24th, 2018 at 11:18 AM ^

Penn State was terrible but it was uncharted territory on how to handle a situation like that. They handled it the worse way possible or so you would think.

MSU had a clear recent example of what not to do and double or tripled down on it. There are a number of people who should join Nassar in jail.

WolverineHistorian

January 24th, 2018 at 1:25 PM ^

Problem is, by the time the Penn State situation happened, MSU had already known about the Nassar thing for about 15 years at that point.  If anything, seeing how disgusted the rest of the world was at Penn State and how HORRIBLY they handled Sandusky, MSU sure as hell would not have suddenly spoke up after 15 years of silence of their own. 

It's no defense, though.  I agree with you that they should all be thrown in jail. 

Mr. Elbel

January 23rd, 2018 at 10:48 PM ^

Time for new leadership to step up and right the ship. The lack of accountability has gone on far too long. Glad the faculty are speaking out against these atrocities. Throw them all in jail and bring in someone who takes ownership of changing the culture from the top down.

Robbie Moore

January 23rd, 2018 at 10:52 PM ^

Now upwards of 150 women giving their story in open court. 150! A Board and President so gutless they leave the football and basketball coaches adrift to make statements for them. Which, of course, they do poorly. An AD completely MIA. And today...the senior member of the Board indicating the "the Nassar thing" was a 10 minute portion of a 4 hour emergency meeting. And then laughed (!!!) at the idea the NCAA might get involved

The level of disrespect shown the victims is staggering.

evenyoubrutus

January 23rd, 2018 at 11:04 PM ^

What I don't understand in all of this is the motive. Why did the MSU administration work so hard to cover this up? What did they have to lose by reporting this guy to the authorities?

Les Miles

January 23rd, 2018 at 11:21 PM ^

Bad press? Maybe they thought/hoped Nassar couldn't have possibly done anything that bad and the girls who reported it were lying and didn't want the press involved.

Obviously that wasn't the case and pushing this under the rug choosing public image over athlete safety is disgusting and looks way worse. Not making excuses for msu. Speculating why

Richard75

January 23rd, 2018 at 11:22 PM ^

It’s not that they had something to gain, or that there was some grand cover-up scheme. It’s institutional dynamics.



The coach swears by the doctor, so she believes him. The dean also respects the doctor, so he stands by him. The athletic department is disengaged, so they don’t take action. The president is at an even further remove, and the board has total faith in the president, and so here we are.

bo_lives

January 24th, 2018 at 12:51 AM ^

It's even possible none of them particuarly liked Nassar in the first place. But the higher-ups were all likely afraid of the repercussions and willfully ignorant about the facts. Nobody wanted to look into it further because the reality of the situation was too horrifying for them to accept.

It's astonishing that it took over 20 years for this to come out. Even if Simon knew nothing, she should still resign in disgrace for being so oblivious. But she clearly did know, so it's a million times worse.

ijohnb

January 24th, 2018 at 5:06 AM ^

think this is part of it. With this and PSU. The minute one person knows and doesn’t act it is already a kind of “cover-up.” So then it automatically becomes “covering up the cover up” and the institution is already protecting themselves and not the perpetrator. And then he feels even more empowered because of 1)the lack of action taken and 2) the fact that the institution is now covering their own ass as well.

Don

January 24th, 2018 at 8:46 AM ^

If the marketing materials that MSU sent out to its prospective gymnast recruits stated "Our internationally-famous sports physician Larry Nassar is an expert in procedures that keep our gymnasts in top condition, and periodically he will stick his hand deep into your daughter's vagina as part of his care." you can't tell me that parents wouldn't be saying, "the fuck you will. Our daughter will go elsewhere."

Which brings up this question: if this procedure is so normal and medically justified, how many other sports gymnastics doctors elsewhere in the country are doing this to their gymnasts? And are those sports doctors observing correct guidelines and safeguards?

1VaBlue1

January 24th, 2018 at 10:15 AM ^

My understanding of it from last year is that, while it is a valid medical procedure, it is rarely considered for use, and even more rarely used.  I can't imagine a doctor would try to sell that treatment to a woman.  Let alone to the parents of a child!  Not to mention performing the 'procedure' without a 3rd party in the room for everyone's safety!  I can't even begin to process how this 'procedure' could continue to be performed, witness-less, while the doctor performing it is under active investigation for using it to molest girls!

OMFG!!!!  Writing it out is worse than thinking about it!  Can that place/management team just be burned down, already?