Days after three USA Gymnastics leaders resigned amid criticism of mishandling former team doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual misconduct, the president of Michigan State University has resigned over the school’s ties with faculty member Nassar. The New York Times reports that President Lou Anna Simon faced pressure to resign due to Nassar’s longtime employment at MSU, where he treated student athletes, and the school’s handling of his numerous sexual abuse cases. Also on Wednesday, Nassar, 54, was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison following a week of hearing his victims’ testimonies in court.
Simon released a statement announcing her resignation on Wednesday. She had worked at MSU for over 40 years, becoming the first female president of the university in 2005.
JUST IN: @michiganstateu President Lou Anna Simon announces her resignation after fallout from the university’s handling of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal pic.twitter.com/tLs3P89bvl
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 25, 2018
“The last year and a half has been very difficult for the victims of Larry Nassar, for the university community, and for me personally,” Simon wrote in her statement. “To the survivors, I can never say enough that I am so sorry that a trusted, renowned physician was really such an evil, evil person who inflicted such harm under the guise of medical treatment. I know that we all share the same resolve to do whatever it takes to avert such tragedies here and elsewhere.”
Simon had plans to retire from her position in December 2016, around the same time as the first allegations against Nassar were publicly reported. While MSU has stuck to its stance that none of the school’s officials knew about the claims before they were published, many have speculated about how much Simon might have known about Nassar beforehand. He was dismissed from his position at the university shortly after the first reports, and the ongoing accusations that followed prevented Simon from retiring. Currently one of the highest paid public university presidents, Simon declined a pay raise in December 2017 when criticism of Nassar was at its peak.
“I am pleased that statements have been made by Mr. Fitzgerald and Board members about my integrity and the fact that there is no cover-up,” Simon said in her statement. “I support wholeheartedly the Board’s decision to ask the Attorney General’s Office to review the events surrounding the Nassar matter. This is an important toward providing more assurance to the university community and the public.”
After explaining her role in the court hearings centered on Nassar, Simon announced her resignation at the end of her statement.
“As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable,” she wrote. “As president, it is only natural that I am the focus on this anger…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 employment agreement.”