Mich. State plans to fire official

EAST LANSING, MICH.» Michigan State University announced Friday that it plans to fire a highranking administrator who told police he never followed up after ordering sports doctor Larry Nassar to have a third person present during certain treatments.

It’s the first major personnel action announced by Michigan State interim president John Engler, who was hired after Lou Anna Simon resigned under a storm of criticism about the university’s handling of Nassar, who is serving decades in prison for molesting girls and women and for possessing child pornography. The scandal has led to numerous people being forced out of their jobs.

Dr. William Strampel was dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, which includes the sports medicine clinic, until he announced a leave of absence for medical reasons in December. He still has tenure, however, which protects his employment as a Michigan State faculty member.

Engler said he will ask a faculty committee to revoke Strampel’s status.

“William Strampel did not act with the level of professionalism we expect from individuals who hold senior leadership positions, particularly in a position that involves student and patient safety,” Engler, a former Michigan governor, said in a news release.

Engler said he is confident that a faculty panel will find there is good cause to revoke Strampel’s tenure. Strampel is being sued by many of Nassar’s victims, but Michigan State won’t cover his legal expenses.

The Michigan Attorney General’s Office, which is investigating how Michigan State responded to complaints about Nassar, recently asked the Big Ten school for Strampel’s computer, cellphone and work calendars.

In 2014, Strampel ordered Nassar to have another medical staff member in the room when providing treatment to “anything close to a sensitive area.” He also said any skin-to-skin contact needed to be explained in detail.

“I am happy to have you back in full practice,” Strampel told Nassar in an email.

Nassar was fired in 2016 for violating the rule. His dismissal came less than a month after former gymnast Rachael Denhollander filed a criminal complaint saying Nassar had sexually assaulted her with his hands while treating her for back pain years earlier.