Michigan St.’s interim president will resign
The interim president of Michigan State University is resigning, according to the chairwoman of the university’s board of trustees, and becomes the school’s second leader to step down under pressure because of the scandal involving a university physician accused of sexual abusing dozens of girls and women.
John Engler, a former Michigan governor, is resigning amid outrage over comments he made about women who were sexually abused by the disgraced former doctor.
Trustee Brian Mosallam said in an interview Wednesday that trustees would vote today to terminate Engler if he did not resign.
“We cannot move forward with him at the helm,” Mosallam said. Engler has been a distraction from work being done on campus to improve student health and wellness, and to implement institutional reform, Mosallam said.
“No one is ever talking about that,” the trustee said. “All we are constantly talking about are John Engler’s incendiary comments. For that, he must step down immediately.”
Engler told the Detroit News editorial board last week that some victims are “enjoying” the spotlight after speaking out about abuse by Larry Nassar, the former Michigan State sports medicine doctor who is serving a sentence of at least 40 years.
The chairwoman of the Board of Trustees announced a meeting for this morning to consider a personnel issue.
A spokeswoman for the university did not immediately respond to requests for comment or a response from Engler.
Engler’s tenure as interim president has been tumultuous from the beginning.
Student and faculty leaders said they were angry about the choice of Engler, predicting a former governor and longtime Republican politician would not help restore trust at a school they felt was in desperate need of a dramatic culture change. And they said they felt blindsided by his selection.
It came after more than 150 women had spoken out about the sexual assault they endured from Nassar and about how their complaints over many years were ignored.