TW: Sexual assault, molestation
I remember feeling squeamish the day my eyes first met the news coverage of a horrific scandal of a serial molestation, a man trusted as a commonly recommended physician who had abused his position as a credible doctor to molest his patients time and time again.
I followed the coverage for over a year, increasingly disgusted by the degree in which this man was able to implement these sick acts.
This feeling does not even begin to amount to to the brokenness, indignation and misery that the survivors of this monster, I imagine, have felt and continue to feel. I am so sorry to those affected.
How could such an abominable person abuse his power for so long without getting caught? How could 140 plus women come forward and share their stories of his abuse for decades only to be undermined and hushed time and time again?
The answer to this question is still unclear. What is clear, however, is this: indisputably, we exist in a climate that protects abusers and silences survivors on our campus, in the USA Gymnastics — and in this nation as a whole.
MSU administration, you have curated an environment where molesters and assaulters can flourish, and perhaps even feel comfortable.
You were not the direct perpetrators of these heinous acts of assault. But you were complicit. You turned a blind eye to a serial molester for the sake of a university reputation — and in the eyes of many, that is a similarly reprehensible offense.
When a leader of an institution doesn’t in plain language condemn sexual assault, especially in the wake of one of its own employees’ abuse of over 140 women, they are allowing sexual predators to feel comfortable. Welcome, even.
We have seen the extreme danger in a leadership that does not distinctly and passionately denounce evil when they see it since the election of Donald Trump.
When white supremacy was not strongly and fiercely condemned by the leader of the United States in the aftermath of the Charlottesville terrorist attack, Trump fostered an environment where Nazis felt validated.
MSU administration, you repeated the same brand of mistakes as Trump in your leadership, tip-toeing around the responsibility that you and other MSU officials have in his abuse and subsequently devastating the lives of so many in the process.
I waited for the legal contractions of the investigation to end so MSU could release more statements and information on this horrific situation. I hoped and hoped, among so many, that the leadership of this university would begin to assign accountability to those complicit in Nassar’s monstrosities, as the investigations and sentencings of Nassar proceeded. Unfortunately, upon reports of 14 MSU officials having prior knowledge of Nassar’s assault, I, among so many, was exceedingly let down.
With statements from Joel Ferguson, vice chairman of Michigan State’s governing board, shrugging off a scandal that has forever tainted the lives of hundreds and hundreds of people, saying, “There’s so many more things going on at the university than just this Nassar thing,” the situation has only gotten worse.
Simon has provided many sloppy, off-base statements that have, in a similar manner, threw more salt on the wounds of many.
It’s glaringly evident that there is a clear lack in internal self-assessment at this university.
You failed the unbelievably valiant survivors, many of whom were heroic enough to directly face their abuser, when MSU couldn’t even take a modicum of responsibility on Nassar’s behalf.
Not even a single drop of that kind of courage was evident among those in the MSU administration who had knowledge of his actions and failed to hold him immediately accountable.
You failed the survivors. You failed everyone.
MSU administration, under the current inadequate leadership we have, this failure is beyond reparations.
In order for the survivors to heal, for our community to transfigure into a climate that is 100 percent clear in its intolerance of sexual assault, we need new leadership. Our president has resigned, but that is not the end of the road.
To all of the other members of the MSU administration who were complicit in these unspeakable offenses, the absolute bare minimum you can offer in order to accelerate the healing of this community is to resign and to allow new leadership to take over. Lou Anna K. Simon offered her resignation and it is time that you follow suit. This kind of trust cannot be regained.
A complete cultural transformation in how we, as a society, view and believe people that come forward with stories of sexual assault is absolutely critical to ensure that abuse to this degree never happens again.
To the women who have come forward and have had to suffer on the behalf of this man: You are supported, you are believed and it is not your fault. As a community, we must do all we can to ensure that something of this vile nature never occurs again here, or in any institution.
It is time to listen, MSU, more carefully than ever before, and it’s time for insufficient leadership to turn-over at Michigan State University.