John Engler, a former governor of Michigan, will be named interim president of Michigan State University as fallout over the university’s failure to respond to sexual abuse by Larry Nassar continues to roil the campus, according to several news reports.
Engler, a Republican, will be joined on the staff by another former governor, Jim Blanchard, a Democrat, who will serve as a senior adviser. Both former governors are Michigan State graduates. By adding one member from each party, the members of the university’s Board of Trustees hope to dispel any concerns about partisanship.
The announcement is expected to be made at a board meeting on Wednesday morning.
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.
The university is conducting a nationwide search to replace Lou Anna K. Simon, who stepped down last week. “As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable,” she said in a statement announcing her resignation. “As president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger.”
Bill Schuette, the attorney general of Michigan, has opened an investigation into the university’s handling of complaints against Nassar. On Monday, alongside the special independent counsel William Forsyth, he released a letter that requested information, including text and email messages, from 20 current and former university officials.
According to the Lansing State Journal, 57 more women are expected to give impact statements about Nassar before his final sentencing.
Merrily Dean Baker, a former athletic director at the university, told The Detroit News, “this is a moment of soul-searching for anyone who has any affiliation with that university.”
“I’ve been quiet, but I listened online to the women at [Nassar’s] sentencing trial, and I wept with them. Nobody can play nice anymore,” she continued. “If there ever was a time for 100 percent transparency and its survival, this is it. And if it doesn’t happen, they will not survive.”
Adam Harris is a breaking-news reporter. Follow him on Twitter @AdamHSays or email him at adam.harris@chronicle.com.
