As Calls to Resign Grow Louder, Michigan State’s Interim President Digs In

Updated (6/15/2018, 12:37 p.m.) with a response from John Engler.

Amid a flurry of calls for his resignation as Michigan State University’s interim president, John M. Engler dug in on Friday, refusing to apologize to an abuse victim whom he had demeaned and declining to respond directly to lawmakers and trustees who, in increasing numbers, say he must go.

Engler has been under fire since Wednesday, when The Chronicle first reported on an email in which the former Republican governor privately suggested that an abuse survivor was likely to get a “kickback” from her lawyer for stirring up other victims. In the ensuing days, legislators on both sides of the aisle have said it is past time for Engler, a former Republican governor of Michigan, to resign. The leadership crisis escalated on Friday, as two of the university’s eight trustees joined the chorus, and seemingly every few minutes a new lawmaker took to Twitter with the same message: Get out.

But Engler is having none of it. In his first statement since the controversy erupted, Engler focused on the future. He stressed, as he often does, that the university’s legal settlement, a $500-million agreement with more than 300 women, was a critical step forward.

“I continue to look ahead,” Engler said on Friday. “Whatever the tensions were before, we have successfully negotiated a settlement agreement — something that is fair and equitable to both sides, and that both sides agreed to. We are now committed to continuing our efforts to strengthen sexual-misconduct prevention on and off campus and to respond promptly to and appropriately if prevention fails.

“I am looking forward to the Board of Trustee meeting next week where we will continue our progress and efforts to move forward,” he continued. “I believe actions matter, and that is how the success of our work will be determined.”

Emily Gerkin Guerrant, a vice president and university spokeswoman, did not immediately respond on Friday to an email asking whether Engler would directly address the calls for his resignation. Guerrant also declined to say why Engler had not apologized to Rachael J. Denhollander, the abuse survivor whose motives he had impugned.

Tensions ratched up Friday morning, when Brian Mosallam, a university trustee, became the first board member to call on Engler to resign. Within a couple of hours, Dianne Y. Byrum, a former Democratic lawmaker, said Engler had to go, too.

“I no longer believe that John Engler’s presence on this campus will allow Michigan State University to move forward,” Mosallam, a former Spartan football player, said in a written statement. “We need leadership that sets a tone of empathy and compassion toward our courageous survivors, and re-embraces them as important members of our Spartan community. John Engler simply can no longer do that. And for these reasons, John Engler should step down immediately as this university’s interim president.”

The Nassar Scandal and the Crisis of Michigan State’s President

Within a year the university lost two chief executives — Lou Anna K. Simon, sank by the scathing, heart-rending testimony of the sports doctor’s scores of victims, and John M. Engler, whose interim presidency ended amid a backlash over his bare-knuckled tactics.

• With Criminal Charges Dismissed Against Michigan State’s Ex-President, Sex-Abuse Accountability Hits Skids Again
• Michigan State’s Ex-President, Who Faces Criminal Charges, Will Retire With a $2.5-Million Payout
• At Michigan State, a Disruptive Presidency That Few Could Muster the Will to End

As recently as Thursday, Byrum had stopped short of calling for Engler to resign, saying that the embattled president would most likely stay on for another year as a presidential search proceeds. She did, however, say he should apologize. He still hasn’t.

“The despicable and disparaging comments made about survivors by Interim President John Engler are completely unacceptable,” Byrum said in a written statement. “Yesterday I called upon the interim president to apologize for these hurtful remarks, he failed to do so, and therefore I have concluded he is no longer the right person to lead Michigan State University during this difficult period.”

The board’s six other members did not respond immediately on Friday to calls or emails seeking comment. A woman who answered the phone at the home of George J. Perles, a trustee and former Spartan football coach, said Perles, who is nearly 84 years old, was ill and had not been following the controversy.

From the moment of his appointment, Engler has struggled to move Michigan State past the trauma of abuses by Larry Nassar, a former university sports doctor who was imprisoned for the sexual assault of women and girls in his care. Indeed, Engler has often fanned the flames, tangling with survivors who increasingly describe him as part of the problem rather than part of the solution.

In a tweet on Friday, Denhollander shamed the trustees who have not condemned Engler. “I can’t express my disappointment strongly enough,” she wrote. “What matters more than the right thing? Or do you think Engler’s views are right?”

Jack Stripling covers college leadership, particularly presidents and governing boards. Follow him on Twitter @jackstripling, or email him at jack.stripling@chronicle.com.