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The woman who led Michigan State for 14 years confirms her resignation, effective Thursday, amid a crisis of confidence in her leadership.
"As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable. As president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger," Lou Anna Simon says in a six-paragraph letter to trustees. "I cannot make it about me now." (Full text below.)
The departure under pressure comes as calls for her resignation or dismissal spread because of how she responded -- or failed to respond initially-- to reports of improper conduct for years by Larry Nassar, now a convicted serial molester, while examining student gymnasts, other varsity athletes and outsiders at the university's Sports Medicine Clinic.
Simon avoids saying anything that would compromise MSU's "vigorous defense," as she put it this month, against dozens of damage lawsuits filed by women and families accusing the university of negligence by letting its employee's abuses continue after they were reported. She doesn't apologize for anything she failed to do, doesn't acknowledge regret and doesn't accept responsibility for any missteps.
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Calls for the resignation of board leaders is certain to continue.
"I will continue to do whatever I can to help MSU prosper," says Simon, who has worked at MSU since the 1970s and earned a doctorate in administration and higher education there in 1974.
An interim president is not immediately announced Wednesday night.
Simon's full letter to the board follows.
"I cannot make it about me now."
(MSU Photography Services)
Resignation letter:
'I love this place'
The last year and a half has been very difficult for the victims of Larry Nassar, for the university community, and for me personally. 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.
As you and many in the Spartan family know, I planned to retire in December 2016, and we had begun a conversation about a smooth transition. Then the Indianapolis Star article appeared about USAG and one of the victims contacted MSU police to file a complaint. The MSU Police investigation commenced. Nassar’s employment was terminated shortly thereafter. Work began within the HealthTeam and other areas of the university to improve safety. Given the challenges, my transition was postponed. I appreciate the support you provided.
The survivors’ accounts are horrific. They are tragic, heartbreaking, and personally gut-wrenching. I take solace that many victims have indicated that the opportunity to confront Nassar is a step toward healing. I am proud of the exceptional work of the Special Victims Unit led by Lt. Andrea Munford with the steadfast leadership of Chief Dunlap. I am proud of my support of their work, even though the results have been very painful to all who watched.
As Nassar’s legal journey to prison was drawing to a close, more and more negative attention was focused on Michigan State University, and on me. I am pleased that statements have been made by [former federal prosecutor Patrick] Fitzgerald and Board members about my integrity and the fact that there is no cover-up. 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 step toward providing more assurance to the university community and to the public. In the past, I have provided assurances to the Attorney General of my full cooperation, and I will continue to do so.
As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable. As president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger. I understand, and that is why I have limited my personal statements. Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to put Team MSU first. 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.
Anyone who knows me knows I am a principled person. I have spent my entire professional career, more than 40 years, at MSU. I love this place. I have watched it grow and prosper, and it has been the honor and privilege of my life to serve as its president since 2005, and over the last few years, to have the opportunity to work with all of you toward our shared goals for MSU. I will continue to do whatever I can to help MSU prosper in the future as a Spartan in whatever role I may play.
Original article, earlier Wednesday night:
What seemed inevitable in recent weeks is about to happen, apparently.
David Jesse of the Detroit Free Press delivers the news from East Lasning:
Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon plans to step down Thursday from her position, according to multiple sources with knowledge of her plans. ...
She has been under incredible pressure for several weeks to step aside. That pressure has racheted up during the last two weeks as 156 sexual assault victims appeared in court to testify about the abuse they suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar, which reached back as far as 1997. . . .
Simon has said she received a report in 2014 of Nassar being cleared by the university in a sexual assault claim, but said she did not receive the full case file.
Lou Anna Simon has led the uniuversity since 2004 as its first female president.
The paper doesn't give the number of sources or indicate their relationships to MSU.
The State News student paper also reports her departure "before the week is over." It quotes "a knowledgeable source" given anonymity:
"I was told [by a board member] that they were going to meet this week and, effectively, would have Lou Anna step down by Friday.
"I think the hold-up is that they don’t have an interim [president] secured. There’s been a few names that have been tossed around, but I think they're trying to figure out who it's going to be and when they start."
Survivors speaking at Nassar's seven-day sentence hearing, which ended Wednesday, criticized "MSU and Simon for her handling of the situation, repeatedly talking about how they notified MSU officials of the abuse," Jesse writes.
In recent days, pressure for Simon to step aside grew:
- MSU's student government called for changes at the "highest levels."
- Faculty members expressed a loss of confidence. "I don't think we can move on as an institution from this without President Simon's resignation," Professor Anna Pegler-Gordan of MSU's James Madison College said Tuesday at a Faculty Senate meeting.
- State lawmakers in both parties called for her to go.
- Editorials in the Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Crain's Detroit Business and The State News urged her resignation or dismissal, as the Lansing State Journal did last month.
The Free Press article Wednesday night quotes three Nassar survivors who spoke in court, including current MSU student Lindsey Lemke:
"I don’t know how you can still call yourself a president, because I don’t anymore. You are no president of mine. . . .
"You say you aren’t responsible for this. I wish you would come up to this podium and be half as brave as all of us have had to be the past year and a half. To be brave enough to be a public survivor and a competing athlete of your university who let me down. To be brave enough to come up here and confidently tell us the reason why you don't think that you are responsible."
The Free Press gives this career background:
Simon was named president in January 2005, the final stop in her long journey at MSU, which began in the 1970s.
After getting her master's in student personnel and counseling from Indiana State University, she came to MSU, where she got her doctorate in higher education.
She started in the office of institutional research and continued to climb upward in MSU's administration, landing as provost - in charge of the day-to-day academic affairs of the university - in 1993. She was there until 2003, when she was named interim president when then-president M. Peter McPherson went to Iraq at the behest of President George W. Bush to help oversee the reconstruction of Iraq.
She was named president in 2004, becoming the first female president of MSU.
Amid the intensifying pressure, MSU trustees decided last Friday that Simon could stay. Since then, two board members -- Dianne Byrum and --Brian Breslin publicly said they favor her departure.
Here is Byrum's statement late Wednesday, before the news development:
