MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon's publicly released statement to students about the April 2-3 disturbances is a little like showing up late to a birthday party without a gift.
More than two weeks after the disturbances, the university's leader has delivered a public relations-laden statement that has no mention of holding police accountable for their mistakes.
Amongst colorful descriptions of "roads paved in green to the Final Four," "Team MSU" and "eradicating barriers in our community," the prominent message to be mined is that more time is needed to analyze what happened.
Time is the one thing students looking for vindication don't have. We are about to head into finals week and a significant amount of East Lansing's community will be vacating campus for summer retreats. If Simon had been on the streets during the mayhem, she would know there is little to analyze about peacefully celebrating people being assaulted by law enforcement.
To be fair, Simon's response to students did paint student behavior in a mostly positive light. She said: "I am asking the commission to look upon the participants as celebrants, not as potential 'rioters.'"
It's a good start, but she needs to use her voice to make permanent changes to the way students are treated by authorities in East Lansing.
Simon says "serious questions have been raised about the police actions, both pre-emptive and responsive," but adds nothing more on the subject except that the police are reviewing what happened. These are indeed serious questions, and they must be treated as such. It's time to stop pussy-footing around the issue. Simon stopped short of taking a stand for or against police actions.
Simon's call to take more time to analyze isn't helping the 43 people who were arrested, 34 of which already have been arraigned in the East Lansing 54-B District Court. Of those arraigned, all pleaded not guilty. Although there was undoubtedly inappropriate behavior on the part of students on April 2-3, some of them were arrested for simply being there.
Simon ends her statement by calling for more action from the Community Relations Coalition, or CRC, a neighborhood-based organization that is supposed to bring students and East Lansing officials together.
The CRC hasn't made any moves to improve relations, let alone help vindicate students. It's hard to expect anything from a group that talks about flexing muscle, but is best known for passing out goodie bags.
As has been requested many times before, this means a formal apology from the police and the dropping of charges against those students who did not commit any real crime during the police provoked-disturbance.
As the school year swiftly approaches its end, it's time for MSU and city officials to take decisive action. Hinting at an "independent investigation" and making statements without any bold assertions will not get to the heart of this matter.
