MIRS: Surprise! Snyder Ponders Action Against MSU Board

It quotes the schools’ former sexual assault counselor who said complaints were addressed “behind closed doors . . . none of it was transparent or included people who would normally be involved in certain decisions.”

“The situation is heartbreaking and unprecedented,” Heaton said. “The Governor first needs to consider whether action, if any is taken, would interfere with the myriad investigations already taking place.”

The NCAA, Attorney General, the state House, possibly Congress and the U.S. Department of Education are among the entities set to launch inquires into the handling of sexual assault complaints at Michigan State.

Today’s remarks are the first indication of Snyder getting involved in the discussion about whether the MSU Board of Trustees should be replaced following Nassar being sentenced to up to 175 years in prison for sexual assault that may have involved as many as 160 women.

The Board has taken fire, particularly after Trustee Joel FERGUSON referred to the controversy surrounding his school as that “Nassar thing” and sounded generally dismissive about the whole affair during a radio interview.

“There needs to be accountability and when you see the types of comments made by Joel Ferguson, it is contributing to the culture,” said Sen. Tonya SCHUITMAKER (R-Lawton), who held sexual assault awareness seminars on college campuses with First Lady Sue SNYDER.

The Board today accepted the resignation of President Lou Anna SIMON. Athletic Director Mark HOLLISalso resigned today. The Speaker of the Michigan House said today all of the eight members of the Board of Trustees should be the next to go.

“This is heartbreaking. This is so much worse than we thought, and it was already unimaginable,” said House Speaker Tom LEONARD (R-DeWitt). “Dozens more of these young women were brushed aside and buried by Michigan State University. No one knows how deep this goes and how badly the school failed this community.

“We are trying to bring as much of it to light as possible, but every day that goes by shows how far we have to go.”

Under the constitution, the House has the authority to start impeachment hearings against public officials for “corrupt conduct in office” under Article XI, Section 7, but the Constitution also gives authority to the governor under Article V, Section 10 to remove public officers for “gross neglect of duty.”

Information gathered by MIRS on Wednesday was that Leonard has not taken impeachment of the board off the table, but hearings weren’t imminent either.

Republican political consultant Dennis LENNOX went as far as to sue Snyder earlier this week to get him to take action to remove the board. Today, he wrote:

“The members of the MSU Board of Trustees admitted their inaction contributed to the university’s failure to safeguard. It is time for the governor to convene a removal inquiry, pursuant to the Constitution, for gross neglect of duty, malfeasance and misfeasance.”

The situation could be tricky or uncomfortable for Snyder considering his director of appointments is Brian BRESLIN, the chair of the MSU Board of Trustees.

The chair the House Higher Education Appropriations Committee, Rep. Kim LASATA (R-St. Joseph) noted that the university board is an independent body and that going beyond asking trustees to resign “gets really tricky.”

“We need to be careful. Maybe they should do the right thing and resign,” LaSata said. “They were elected. They can recalled. That’s an option we have as citizens. For governor to remove them, we have to be very careful with that.”

LaSata and House Law and Justice Committee Chair Klint KESTO (R-Commerce Twp.) are in the midst of asking MSU for documents related to the Nassar case, but the ESPN report reinforced her desire to see how the school’s athletic department handled other sexual assault cases.

“This isn’t just about gymnastics. It’s the entire school. If there’s football or basketball involved, that should all be part of it,” LaSata said.

If Snyder decides to remove members of the board, Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) Chair Brandon DILLON said he would “strongly urge” the governor to “not turn this into a partisan issue and keep the political make-up of the board as it is.”

“Let the voters decide if they want to make partisan changes,” he said.

The eight-member board includes four Republicans and four Democrats. Two terms of two Republicans — Breslin and Mitch LYONS — expire at the end of this year. Both have decided not to run for re-election.

Sen. Margaret O’BRIEN (R-Portage) said she was “sick to her stomach” after reading the ESPN report. Asked about the future of the board, she said, “It’s not good. The ones I know personally are good people but Joel Ferguson doesn’t get it. His comments have been offensive and the rest of the board has been silent and that’s being interpreted as silent agreement.”

She praised the news media for succeeding in bringing these cases to light where the school and law enforcement officials clearly failed.

“All of this was hidden,” she said. “It took Rachel (DENHOLLANDER) going to the Indy Star. Since then, it’s been all of you digging this up. If it weren’t for the journalists, justice wouldn’t have been served.”

O’Brien wrapped up an interview with the BBC on the Nassar affair today. BBC reporters told her that they had spoken with victims.

“They said the world is watching,” O’Brien said.