Couch: It's time for Michigan State to stop fighting with Nassar's victims

“So, I ask, how much is a little girl worth?” 

Half-a-billion dollars, split 332 ways, apparently.

Four months after Rachael Denhollander posed that question during Larry Nassar’s sentencing, we have our answer.

No wonder Denhollander and Nassar’s other victims — 332 of them in total and there could be more — aren’t entirely happy with their $500 million settlement with Michigan State University. Their worth has been quantified in cold, hard cash and nothing more. Not the policy reforms they sought as part of the settlement. Not even a proper apology. 

Wednesday’s civil resolution was an admission of guilt, minus the words. But also a formality. It’s been clear for more than a year that MSU was going to have to write a massive check. The settlement is a hugely significant moment but a predictable one.

Denhollander and others wanted it to be more than money. The staggering sum alone does nothing to advance their ideas — including a bigger role for students and faculty in governing the university — or ensure reforms to protect the next child and prevent the next Nassar. She called the it “a missed opportunity for meaningful reform at the university.”

Instead, it was an atonement. Not an ending. Not a corrective step. And not peace.

It’s time for MSU to stop fighting with Nassar’s victims and to begin to see them as allies. 

RELATED:  MSU, victims of Nassar reach 'historic' $500 million settlement

These women and girls didn’t choose a fight with MSU. MSU’s administration made this a fight. A half-billion dollars later, it still feels like one. When Nassar victim Morgan McCaul told an NPR reporter that “we're still not seeing those structural changes being made,” interim MSU President John Engler responded that “she's completely wrong.” 

And Wednesday’s apologies from MSU's leaders never quite got to the point of admitting culpability. 

“We are truly sorry to all the survivors and their families for what they have been through,” MSU board of trustees chairman Brian Breslin began his statement Wednesday.

Not “We're sorry we didn't do more to protect you” or “we're sorry we missed our chances to stop a serial pedophile” or “we're sorry we fought you when we should have listened.” 

MSU's leaders should know this: If a fear of further litigation or a battle with your insurance company still precludes you from a heartfelt mea culpa, it’s better to not speak at all. At a certain point, your financial fears have to give way to decency.

There have been a few good apologies, albeit way too late. Engler did a bit better in a letter to the campus community released Thursday, writing “I deeply regret the injury done to so many girls and young women, and to their families, by a physician operating under the aegis of this university. For that, I, and every leader on this campus, apologize, but more important, we offer the comprehensive actions being taken as proof we are serious about changing MSU.” 

RELATED:  MSU settlement won't end debate in Lansing over sex assault bills

More:Reactions to news of MSU's $500 million lawsuit settlement with Nassar victims

Attorney David Mittleman, who represents more than 100 of Nassar’s victims said, “I believe paying $500 million to 332 survivors is tantamount to an admission. They may not be able to say, ‘We admit we were wrong.’ They’ve become accountable.”

Financially, yes. That wasn’t really a choice. This civil litigation was never going to reach a courtroom. 

If MSU had settled a year ago instead of digging in, perhaps the number would have been far less, and not just because the number of victims that had come forward then was a fraction of the 332 we know of now. 

How much did Simon’s leadership over the last couple years cost MSU? That depends.

What’s a reputation worth?

A half-billion dollars didn’t buy MSU separation from Nassar, even as he begins to rot in federal prison in Arizona. That only comes when alumni can wear an MSU shirt anywhere in the world without people asking them about “That doctor.” That’s probably years away. There’s nothing to be done about that. 

In the meantime, take corrective measures internally, change systems and policy and, where needed, people. As Mittleman said, educate this community and others about “nice guy pedophile predators.” Work to be the last place this occurs. 

MORE:  Couch: MSU won't find trust again until Engler, board of trustees are gone

MSU right now is seen as a haven for sexual assault and abuse. Beyond Nassar, I don’t believe that MSU’s culture around sexual assault and harassment is any worse than a lot of other major universities or institutions. But that doesn't mean it's good. So fix it. Be the shining beacon. Use your people, including Nassar’s victims, who so want to be part of solutions. 

That might happen partly from within. If Amanda Thomashow, an MSU graduate who reported abuse by Nassar in 2014, runs for MSU’s Board of Trustees this fall and wins, Nassar’s victims will have a voice on the inside. And MSU will have a survivor’s perspective from someone who can affect policy. 

And the settlement with MSU just funded Thomashow’s campaign. 

“I think that this (settlement) is a step in the right direction," Thomashow told the Lansing State Journal. "But I think there’s a lot more work to be done at MSU and institutions across the country."

Mittleman believes there are things MSU "probably can’t do because it would violate the terms of their insurance coverage,”  

“Settlements are a compromise. And both sides leave not completely happy.”

There can no longer be two sides to this. If that didn’t end Wednesday, MSU's efforts to finally fix this will get nowhere.

TIMELINE:  Larry Nassar's decades-long career, sexual assault convictions and prison sentences

TIMELINE:  Michigan State and its handling of sexual assault cases

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.