Frequently Asked Questions

Seeking Truth via Answers and Shared Information
Last updated: Feb 13, 2020
QUESTION
Why was the MSU Honor site created?
ANSWER
In January 2018, YouTube served up videos of the survivors speaking during the sentencing hearing. Their stories and courage were impossible to ignore.

MSU's response was confusing. The creator of the MSU Honor site has spent many years in marketing and communications positions, and found MSU's behavior to be counterintuitive to everything she'd learned about crisis management. She waited for Spartans to rise up, but nearly all she knew remained silent. Frustrated by the missteps and confused by the silence, she created a first-pass "Crisis Mgmt Plan" and then an "Updated Crisis Mgmt Plan" and emailed them to then Acting President Beekman in an attempt to help. (Acting President Beekman expressed thanks and engaged in short email conversations.)

The missteps continued, and Spartans remained silent. The Dec 4, 2018  announcement that the MSU Healing Assistance Fund was cancelled was even more confusing. We assumed that the survivors must have misunderstood the intent of the Fund, so dug into the situation to learn more. What we learned was troubling. It became obvious that MSU had truly broken a promise to these women/girls and their families.

Again, we assumed that MSU alumni would step up and help to get the situation resolved, but with only a few exceptions they continued to remain silent. We were sure that alumni and others cared about the survivors and would want MSU to honor their commitment, so we hatched the idea to provide a simple way for people to express their concern.

We are not athletes, we have no ties to MSU beyond growing up in Michigan, and we have never endured sexual assult. But we know that most Spartans and Michiganders care about these women/girls, the perception of Michigan in the news, and honor. We had the time to take action, so we did.
QUESTION
What does "weebly" mean in the MSU Honor URL?
ANSWER
Weebly is the online tool used to create this web site. For a relatively small fee "weebly" can be removed from the URL. When we created the site we assumed it would only be needed for a short period of time and didn't think it would be necessary or worth it to pay the small fee (~$100) to have a more intuitive URL. We hope we were right.
QUESTION
Why haven't more people added their name to the MSU Honor site?
ANSWER
We're not sure why only 1,990+ people have added their names to the MSU Honor site; especially since we receive a lot of positive reinforcement and thanks for creating the site from people who have not added their names. Maybe they don't realize that anyone can add their name. Maybe they don't realize that the terms of the new fund have not yet been announced or that MSU is refusing to release 6,000 documents requested by the Michigan Attorney General. Or maybe they don't understand the need.

If you're a person who hasn't added your name, or you know of a person who has made a concious decision to not add their name, please tell us why. We want to understand.
QUESTION
Why was the MSU Healing Assistance Fund suspended in July 2018?
ANSWER
On July 26, 2018 MSU announced that they had been told that there were possible fraudulent claims being made to the Healing Assistance Fund, so they decided to halt payments while the situation was investigated. 

On Oct 19, 2018 MSU announced that they had decided to part ways with the fund administrator, hoping that a different administrator would provide better oversight and that the fund would remain frozen.

On the same day, Fox 47 News announced that the MSU Police issued a press release stating: "The investigation shows that no Nassar survivors who made criminal complaints or civil filings or their family members made any fraudulent claims for funds."
QUESTION
Why was the MSU Healing Assistance Fund cancelled?
ANSWER
On Dec 4, 2018 MSU Interim President John Engler announced that MSU would redirect approximately $8.5M remaining in the Healing Assistance Fund to the settlement payment in order to reduce the university’s need to borrowed money to pay the settlement to Nassar survivors from $500M to $491.5M. (It sounds like MSU took money promised to the survivors for one purpose to help pay the settlement to the survivors indended to have a different purpose.)
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Previous Board Chairman Brian Breslin stated, “The fund was intended to be a bridge from the point of creation to when the survivors would receive payments from a settlement with the university," but that was the first mention of a link to the settlement or a time limit on the fund.

On Jan 9, 2019, the MSU Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution to create a new healing fund. The terms of the new fund have not yet been announced.
QUESTION
Why do survivors need help paying for counseling and mental health services given that MSU settled with them for a large amount of money?
ANSWER - OUTDATED (Not all info in the answer below is still accurate)
  • Not all survivors will receive settlement payments.
    (For a variety of reasons, some did not chose to participate in the law suit.)
  • As of today, no survivor has received a settlement payment from MSU. MSU has made the initial payment to the Qualified Survivors Fund, but the funds haven't been distributed to any of the survivors yet. Some survivors, expecting to receive reimbursements from the MSU Healing Assistance Fund, have had to unexpectedly incur the costs associated with their counseling. Some are in debt. Some have delayed their treatment.
  • Three survivors explain how the cancellation of the MSU Healing Assistance Fund is impacting them.
  • Note: When survivors and MSU settled, MSU assurred the survivors that the MSU Healing Assistance Fund and the Settlement were not linked. 
QUESTION
Now that the MSU Board of Trustees has resolved to create a new Healing Fund and accepted the resignation of former Interim President Engler, are there any other issues that need to be resolved at Michigan State University (related to restoring honor)?
ANSWER - OUTDATED
There are still a few issues that need to be resolved which are listed as follows:
  • The new Healing Fund is not yet defined, nor are funds available to survivors as promised. We hope that funds will be available to survivors soon.
  • MSU is still withholding information requested by investigators appointed by the Michigan Attorney General. (See Question 8)
  • MSU governance issues appear unresolved given that MSU Trustees reported on Jan 30, 2019 that they were unaware of a US Department of Education report delivered to MSU 47 days earlier. The report is critical of MSU's handling of sexual assault reports related to Larry Nassar and campus-wide safety issues. (It also found the university's failures "may have posed an ongoing threat" to the campus community.) 
  • Sexual assult issues still remain on campus (and elsewhere) as described by Lauren Allswede.
  • People are wondering if the Breslin Center (more info below) and Perles Plaza (more info) will be renamed given that both names are associated with shameful activities that occurred at MSU.
QUESTION
Why is Michigan State University withholding information from the special prosecutor appointed by the Michigan Attorney General to investigate sexual misconduct at MSU?
ANSWER
The answer to this question isn't clear. Here's what we know:
  • In June 2018 the MI Attorney General's Office accused MSU of "wrongfully withholding" documents and impeding inquiry of Nassar matter. Special Prosecutor William Forsyth stated: "If you [MSU] decline to waive the University's privilege, it will be virtually impossible to determine MSU's role in the events surrounding the Nassar matter."
    Note: Penn State waived privilege for the investigation into their scandal.
  • On Dec 21, 2018 the Special Prosecutor stated that MSU actions "made it virtually impossible to know" the truth.
  • On Jan 11, 2019, then MSU Interim President John Engler stated that MSU is withholding 29 documents from the investigation under attorney-client privilege. He also said that if a judge rules that MSU should give them to investigators, "we are happy to turn those over." 
  • On Jan 25, 2019, Robert Young, general counsel and vice president for legal affairs at MSU, said that ongoing litigation between MSU and insurers is the big reason that Michigan State was claiming attorney-client privilege on some communications sought by the Special Prosecutor. The implication is that MSU can't afford to be truthful.
  • On Feb 21, 2019, new MI Attorney General Dana Nessel called on Michigan State University to release documents related to the Larry Nassar sexual misconduct investigation.
One is left with the impression that MSU wants to be sure that the public never learns the whole truth about sexual assualts that have occurred on campus.

Maybe the new Board of Trustees and Acting President will do more to help investigators.
QUESTION
​​​​​Is it reasonable to ask MSU to waive attorney-client privilege to provide the MI AG with docusments requested?
ANSWER
Penn State waived the attorney-client privilege allowing former university legal counsel to testify to the grand jury in the investigation of Jerry Sandusky, according to court documents that were unsealed in Dec of 2013.
QUESTION
Did MSU keep a privilege log with respect to the Nassar case?
ANSWER
We don't know.
QUESTION
Will the Breslin Center at MSU be renamed?
ANSWER
Given that the name Breslin is now associated with supporting disgraced former Interim MSU President Engler and participating in a secret plan to dismantle the MSU Healing Assistance Fund, some wonder if the Breslin Student Events Center on the MSU campus will be renamed to avoid reminding attendees of the shadow that was cast over their campus as it grappled with Nassar issues and disrespecting the survivors who tried to help MSU confront its cultural issues.

We are not aware of plans to rename the facililty at this time.
QUESTION
Why did the MSU Board of Trustees continue to employ Interim President Engler given that he repeatedly insulted survivors and damaged the MSU brand?
ANSWER
On Jan 17, 2019, the MSU Board of Trustees approved a resolution to accept John Engler's resignation on an  accelerated schedule (effictive immediately). Satish Udpa then became the Acting President of Michigan State University.

On May 28, 2019, the MSU Board of Trustees announced a new president; Samuel Stanley. President Stanley started his term on Aug 1, 2019.

Archived past answers.