Nassar Victim Says Michigan State’s Interim President Pressured Her to Accept a Cash Payoff

In a dramatic scene at a Board of Trustees meeting on Friday, a gymnast who had been sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar, the disgraced Michigan State University doctor, accused the university’s interim president, John Engler, of pressuring her to accept a cash payoff.

The accusation, made in front of a crowd of protesters and survivors of Nassar’s abuse, was yet another disturbing turn in a scandal that has enveloped the university for months. It also marked a low point in the turbulent tenure of Engler, the former Republican governor of Michigan, who was appointed in January to replace Lou Anna K. Simon, Michigan State’s longtime leader. Simon had stepped down amid an outcry over the university’s handling of Nassar, the former faculty member and USA Gymnastics team physician who sexually abused hundreds of women over a period of decades.

During a public-comment portion of the Friday board meeting, the gymnast, Kaylee Lorincz, described a recent private meeting with Engler. Lorincz, who is among more than 200 people now suing Michigan State over Nassar’s abuse, said she had spoken with Engler about the university’s attempts to reform its response to sexual-assault cases.

“Mr. Engler then looked directly at me,” she said, “and asked, Right now, if I wrote you a check for $250,000, would you take it?” Before she had completed the sentence, members of the audience were gasping.

Gasps and outrage in the board room today when a Nassar survivor describes in great detail how she says MSU Interim President John Engler attempted to coerce her into settling her case against the university. @FOX2News Listen: pic.twitter.com/GiAbpR1S8f

— Kellie Rowe (@kellierowe) April 13, 2018

Lorincz said that when she told Engler that it was not about money for her, “he said, ‘Well, give me a number.’” According to Lorincz’s testimony, the president told her that he had spoken with Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual abuse. Lorincz said that Engler then told her that he had met with Denhollander and that “she gave him a number” — a price at which she would settle her civil suit against the university.

“I felt like I was being bullied,” Lorincz said.

Denhollander later told ESPN she had never met with Engler.

In a statement on Friday afternoon, Engler confirmed meeting with Lorincz and her mother, Lisa, but he denied pushing a settlement. “Our memories and interpretations of the March 28 meeting are different than hers.” he said. “I am sorry if anything said during the meeting was misunderstood.”

According to the Lansing State Journal, Emily Guerrant, a Michigan State spokeswoman who was present at the private meeting with the Lorinczes, described Engler’s comments not as a formal settlement offer but as a “philosophical discussion.”

A pair of Michigan State trustees who have criticized campus administrators, including Simon, for their handling of the Nassar scandal expressed concern about the conversation Lorincz described. “I’m deeply troubled if the comments attributed to Engler are correct,” one trustee, Mitch Lyons, told ESPN.

“If Kaylee Lorincz’s story is correct, I am beyond disturbed. I’m disgusted,” Brian Mosallam, a trustee who in January called for the resignation of Michigan State’s general counsel, told the State Journal.

Also on Friday, Engler apologized for a detailed statement Michigan State released earlier this week about yet another lawsuit against the university. In the suit a former student says that three basketball players sexually assaulted her and that administrators tried to keep her quiet.

The university’s initial statement flatly rejected her claims. “We have not found any evidence or indication that she was discouraged in any way to make a Title IX complaint or a complaint to the police department,” the statement said. “On the contrary, the student said she was then too distraught to discuss her circumstances.”

Then Engler walked back the comments. “In our urgency,” he said, “we provided an unnecessary amount of detail to convey that point, which has been perceived by some as violating privacy expectations.”

Public Blunders

The Board of Trustees had picked Engler in large part to avoid controversies like this. The former governor was seen as a stable, well-connected leader whose steady hand would be invaluable as Michigan State navigated its various legal and political crises.

His background as a seasoned politician who was comfortable in the public eye was also thought to be a benefit. Simon was pressured to resign largely because of her poor handling of the public-relations piece of the Nassar scandal, with statements that seemed unsympathetic and deflected responsibility.

But Engler has attracted a barrage of negative attention since taking office.

Faculty leaders were angry from the get-go. They felt that the trustees had asked them for feedback on what they’d like to see in an interim president, only to ignore their advice. They had asked for an experienced academic and a healer. The decision to appoint Engler led the Faculty Senate to approve a no-confidence vote in the trustees.

“There was a period in which I think we all thought — the faculty, the students, the staff — that we were going to be partners with the Board of Trustees in finding the interim president and in finding the next president,” said Megan Halpern, an assistant professor in Lyman Briggs College. Engler’s selection, Halpern said, “reopened a lot of wounds.”

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

During his first two weeks, Engler spent handsomely on new contracts with several firms, including with a public-relations outfit led by his former gubernatorial press secretary. He also created three new administrative roles: a special counsel to the president, an associate provost for health affairs, and an assistant provost for student health, wellness, and safety.

Then last month Engler committed two public blunders in quick succession. The first one came during testimony before state lawmakers. He spent much of the time criticizing them for a bill they had just passed that was designed to help prevent sexual assault, saying that the legislation had given the lawyers representing Nassar’s victims greater leverage against the university.

Days later, he attacked ESPN, which had published a scathing article suggesting that Michigan State’s athletics department had consistently swept sexual-assault complaints under the rug. At a news conference, in response to a question about how Michigan State was improving its handling of sexual-misconduct accusations, Engler brought up allegations of sexual harassment at the network. “In many ways,” he said, “their company is one of the worst in the nation.”

Those episodes have reawakened frustrations about the interim president and the manner of his hiring. The latest public embarrassment will put Engler under an even more powerful microscope.

One of the major mistakes Simon made, according to her critics, was not spending enough time sitting down with Nassar’s victims and listening to them as the crisis ballooned. But victims say Engler hasn’t done any better on that front. Denhollander, for one, was opposed to the choice of Engler from the start. “Engler is a deep political insider at MSU,” she said, according to MLive. “At a time the university desperately needs, and survivors pleaded for, outside accountability and leadership, the board chooses one of the most entrenched insiders.”

Glenn Stutzky, a senior clinical instructor of social work, said the hiring of Engler has proved to be a statement about the flawed priorities of Michigan State’s trustees. He sees why they might have thought a politician would be the best choice.

But, he added, “you spend your money on the things that are most important to you.” In the first few weeks of Engler’s term, that meant “additional public-relations firms, lawyers, representation in D.C., lobbyists,” he said. “That to me goes more to the protection of the brand rather than to the healing of the community here.”

Sarah Brown writes about a range of higher-education topics, including sexual assault, race on campus, and Greek life. Follow her on Twitter @Brown_e_Points, or email her at sarah.brown@chronicle.com.

Brock Read is assistant managing editor for daily news at The Chronicle. He directs a team of editors and reporters who cover policy, research, labor, and academic trends, among other things. Follow him on Twitter @bhread, or drop him a line at brock.read@chronicle.com.