By Zachary Gorchow
President of Michigan Operations
Posted: April 17, 2018 4:44 PM

When former Governor John Engler became the interim president of Michigan State University amid the tumult of the Larry Nassar scandal, those who survived the sexual abuse inflicted upon them by Nassar mostly decided to give him a chance.

Rachael Denhollander, the first of Nassar’s victims to publicly accuse him, initially criticized the choice but then said she would wait and see how he operated before judging him as allies like Sen. Margaret O’Brien (R-Portage) said they thought Mr. Engler could succeed at bringing reforms to the university and reaching a settlement with Nassar’s victims in the lawsuits they brought.

That seems like a long time ago now.

It’s apparent from their public statements that Nassar’s survivors, Ms. Denhollander included, are done with Mr. Engler after a series of events, the most serious of which took place last week.

Kaylee Lorincz, a Nassar victim, said at Friday’s MSU Board of Trustees meeting that at a meeting that included her, Mr. Engler, two top MSU staff and her mother in which she hoped to share her story, Mr. Engler said cooperation between the university and Nassar’s victims could not occur until a settlement is reached in the lawsuits. Ms. Lorincz’s attorney was not present.

Ms. Lorincz said Mr. Engler then asked if he wrote her a check for $250,000, would she take it. After she balked at the question and a subsequent one she said he asked about what number it would take, she said Mr. Engler said he had met with Ms. Denhollander and she had given him a number. Ms. Denhollander subsequently said in a tweet she has never met with Mr. Engler, nor given him a number. Ms. Lorincz said she felt bullied by Mr. Engler into revealing information that would help MSU in settlement talks.

In a prepared statement, Mr. Engler said his memory of the meeting was different than Ms. Lorincz’s but never outright denied Ms. Lorincz’s allegation.

This incident wrecked whatever credibility Mr. Engler had left with the Nassar victims, and it was already in tatters after he criticized Senate legislation that would end government immunity in situations involving sexual assault and retroactively lengthen the statute of limitations on sexual assault lawsuits.

Only the five people in the room know exactly what was said but the idea that Mr. Engler raised the civil litigation and possible terms of settlement without her attorney present, if that is in fact what happened, is a major gaffe at best and breach of legal ethics at worst.

There will be a resign rally on the MSU campus Friday demanding the resignations of Mr. Engler and the entire Board of Trustees, which hired him.

All this underlines the festering reality that MSU has yet to settle the lawsuits from Nassar’s victims.

On the one hand, it’s easier said than done. It is going to take big money, easily hundreds of millions, perhaps pushing $1 billion, given the more than 200 victims.

On the other hand, developments continue to come to light that would seem to raise the price of a settlement. The most significant was the charges against Nassar’s former boss, Dr. William Strampel, accusing him of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, misconduct in office and willful neglect of duty. He’s accused of sexually harassing students as well.

The Strampel charges have dramatically weakened one of the defenses MSU has mounted in court to the lawsuits, that Nassar fooled everyone and that no one believed he had committed any crimes. No doubt Nassar did fool many people, but the charges suggest the person overseeing him, Mr. Strampel, harbors a world view conditioned toward seeing women as playthings, not people to be believed. Mr. Strampel was the one who failed to ensure new protocols for Nassar when seeing patients – wearing rubber gloves, asking permission before digitally penetrating patients’ vaginas, having a parent in the room – were followed.

The parties are in mediation now. The sooner MSU can get this case settled, the sooner it can show Nassar’s survivors it truly is taking them seriously. The sooner it can extricate itself from the worst chapter in its 168-year history.

But presuming a settlement does occur, it will be too late for Nassar’s survivors to see Mr. Engler as an ally.