MSU president apologizes to Nassar victims; university creates $10 million counseling fund

EAST LANSING - Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon apologized to victims of Larry Nassar during a Board of Trustees meeting on Friday.

Several of the women who say the former MSU doctor sexually assaulted them were in the room to hear it. 

"I am truly sorry for the abuse you suffered, the pain it caused and the pain it continues to cause today," Simon said. "I'm sorry a physician who called himself a Spartan so utterly betrayed your trust and everything this university stands for." 

At least 125 women have made criminal complaints against Nassar, who was an esteemed sports medicine doctor for both MSU and USA Gymnastics for two decades. He pleaded guilty in November to multiple counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Simon expressed gratitude toward to the victims, saying their courage in coming forward helped to put him behind bars.

It wasn't enough for Kaylee Lorincz, called "Victim E" in Nassar's Ingham County criminal case. She and her mother, Lisa Lorincz, addressed Simon and the board during the meeting, asking officials to focus on making changes at the university rather than on litigation.

"I do not feel that the apology from Lou Anna Simon was heartfelt," Kaylee Lorincz said after the meeting.

Simon wasn't the only MSU official to comment on Nassar and his victims during the meeting. 

MSU Trustee Brian Mosallam conceded that messages from the university to the victims and the MSU community at large may have come across as canned or tone deaf.

However, "for anybody to think trustees worried about protecting brand over someone’s daughter is ludicrous," he said. "Have comfort that I hear you and we are watching."

Mosallam announced during the meeting that the compensation committee had endorsed Simon's work as president and offered her a raise. Simon declined, and she and the board agreed that $150,000 would instead be directed to the Roy J. and Lou Anna K. Simon Scholarship fund in support of first-generation college students. 

More:Larry Nassar to appeal federal sentence on child pornography convictions

More:Putnam: Community deserves more insight into what went wrong in Nassar case

University spokesman Jason Cody said the $150,000 will not be added to Simon's compensation in future years. 

Brian Breslin, chair of the MSU Board of Trustees, also announced the creation of a $10 million fund that will be used for counseling and mental health services for Nassar's victims. He said the board has asked leadership at the university to "accomplish this with the utmost urgency." 

Cody said the end of mediation in the civil litigation between Nassar victims and the university prompted the establishment of the fund.

"As soon as mediation ended, the Board acted promptly to establish the fund, as it was the right thing to do for the victims."

Breslin said that while trustees understand the public's desire for more information, the university is still engaged in civil litigation, "and it is simply not appropriate in most instances to offer specific details while that process continues."

"What we can state emphatically is that it is simply not true that there has been any kind of cover-up," he added.

Some two dozen protestors attended the meeting, many wearing T-shirts associated with the #MeTooMSU movement.

Among them was Jessica Smith, one of Nassar's victims who identified herself as the founder of the #MeTooMSU movement.

"Why put restrictions on someone if they did nothing wrong?" she asked, referring to a 2014 Title IX investigation launched by MSU after a female patient reported being assaulted by Nassar during a medical appointment.

After the investigation ended, Nassar and former MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean William Strampel reached an agreement on new protocols Nassar would be required to abide by. That agreement didn't include a follow-up mechanism to ensure Nassar was compliant.

Strampel stepped down from his role as dean Thursday, telling the Provost it was for medical reasons. Though he is now on medical leave, MSU spokesman Jason Cody said Strampel will remain on the faculty of the college. 

Other speakers called on the board to release documents related to MSU's internal review of Nassar's conduct and called for an independent investigation into the university's handling of the situation.

Several MSU student leaders read aloud a letter to the trustees expressing uncertainty about what officials knew about Nassar prior to his arrest.

The letter concluded, "It seems highly unlikely that during years of continuous sexual assault by the same predator, no one spoke up. Individuals on 'team MSU' made a choice to not believe the victims and should be held responsible." 

When the meeting ended, Simon left the room without taking questions from reporters. 

Nassar was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on child pornography charges earlier this month. He is set to be sentenced next month on the criminal sexual conduct charges.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.