Michigan State University initiated a pivotal move in the Larry Nassar scandal, as it began transferring thousands of contentious documents to the Michigan Attorney General's Office on Friday, MSU Today reports. According to the university, this step ushers in a new era of cooperation and support for survivors, aligning with a comprehensive, trauma-informed plan agreed upon after years of legal and public pressure.
Yet this decision, marked as a historic step by MSU's Board of Trustees, also sparked renewed controversy. Survivors, who had once put their faith in the university's word for transparency, expressed their concerns on the manner in which this transfer commenced. "I expected that I would be informed before finding out in the news," Melissa Hudecz, a Nassar abuse survivor, told The Detroit News. Hudecz, among others, said the survivors were not given updates they were promised by MSU.
The university, however, maintains that their actions are mindful of the survivor's journey, assuring a trauma-informed approach throughout. A specialized team at MSU has been tasked with providing support and open lines of communication with survivors, confirming that outreach can be made through [email protected] for those needing assistance or information.
While MSU faced criticism for their handling of document transfer, their resolve to support survivors appears firm. This shift toward openness follows a withdrawn lawsuit against the university, as survivors and a parent advocacy group, Parents of Sister Survivors Engage (POSSE), pushed for the release of these crucial documents. "This is a victory on a long road to truth that the survivors, and the public need in order to learn how MSU acted in the Nassar case," Azzam Elder, lawyer for the survivors and POSSE, said in a statement obtained by hoodline.
The details surrounding the document release, the redaction process, and their eventual public availability remain unclear. Attorney General Dana Nessel's office is set to scrutinize these documents, which could possibly reveal new aspects of how MSU handled allegations against Nassar, who is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence for his crimes. Michigan State has yet to comment on the withdrawal of the lawsuit or respond to the critique of its document-handling actions.
