Magic Johnson: MSU should fire those aware of Nassar
Legendary basketball star Earvin “Magic” Johnson on Monday joined a growing chorus of voices calling for the dismissal of Michigan State University officials who knew anything about the decades-long scandal when Larry Nassar assaulted scores of women.
“If anyone was aware of the sexual assault happening to women on the MSU campus from the office of the President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty & campus police, and didn’t say or do anything about it, they should be fired,” wrote Johnson, a Lansing native and MSU alumnus, on his Twitter account.
“(My wife) Cookie and I stand in support of the victims and their families as they embark on the road to recovery; and I support the movement to hold everyone involved accountable.”
Johnson’s tweets come days after former President Lou Anna Simon and Athletics Director Mark Hollis stepped down after an Ingham County judge slapped Nassar, also a former USA Gymnastics physician, with a prison sentence of 40-175 years for sexually assaulting young women under the guise of medical treatment.
On Wednesday, a judge in Eaton County will give Nassar another sentence for criminal sexual conduct that he admitted to committing there. At least 12 more survivors will either speak or will be read into the record, said Okemos-based attorney Mick Grewal, who represents over 70 women in civil suits against Nassar, MSU and others. Friday and Monday have been scheduled if more time is needed, Grewal added.
In addition to the forthcoming sentence and the one from Ingham County , a federal judge sentenced Nassar in December to 60 years for possessing 37,000 images of child pornography.
More than 150 women spoke in court over seven days, testifying about the damage his assaults caused in their lives.
On Wednesday, a judge in Eaton County will give Nassar another sentence for criminal sexual conduct that he admitted to committing there. At least 12 more survivors will either speak or will be read into the record, said Okemos-based attorney Mick Grewal, who represents 70 women in civil suits against Nassar, MSU and others. Friday and Monday have been scheduled if more time is needed, Grewal added.
In addition to the forthcoming sentence and the one from Ingham County , a federal judge sentenced Nassar in December to 60 years for possessing 37,000 images of child pornography.
Many are calling for accountability for all organizations that employed Nassar.
On Monday. the National Center on Sexual Exploitation joins the USOC in calling for the resignation of all USA Gymnastics board members.
“The Nassar case is a textbook demonstration of the social conditions that discourage disclosure of sexual abuse,” said Haley Halverson, Vice President of Advocacy and Outreach at the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, in a statement. “As researchers have reported, many victims hesitate to come forward due to fear of not being believed or being disregarded in favor of the perpetrators’ denial. They fear being met with victim-blaming, ostracization, and being forced to leave the team. Many others fail to report due to a lack of evidence. As is all too clear in this case, USA Gymnastics met reports with indifference and failed to act.”
Last week, East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows called for the resignation of the Board of Trustees.
Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, are among members of Congress who are asking investigators to probe the U.S. Olympic organization, USA Gymnastics and MSU, which employed Nassar as a doctor.
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California last week also urged the MSU board to commission an independent investigation into the scandal, citing a Detroit News investigation showing at least 14 university employees were warned about Nassar’s sexual abuse of young athletes.
Over the weekend, Attorney General Bill Schuette appointed Bill Forsyth, who was the Kent County prosecutor in western Michigan for 30 years, as the special investigator to look into what happened at MSU.
The Board of Trustees on Friday also called for a second investigation to examine the university’s failures that enabled Nassar to prey on so many young girls for decades.
“The roles of the new President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty, campus police and students will be to work together to create new policies and procedures to ensure this never happens again,” Johnson tweeted.
kkozlowski@detroitnews.com
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