On March 5, hundreds arrived at Commuter Lot 89 on the South end of MSU’s campus to protest white nationalist Richard Spencer’s visit.

Although Spencer was scheduled to speak at 4:30 p.m. in the MSU Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education, protesters arrived hours earlier in Lot 89, just a short distance away from the Pavilion, with banners, posters and a live band.

The group of protesters made their way to the Pavilion, where a police barricade was formed between protesters and Spencer supporters.

Twenty-five people were arrested and 20 of these names have been formally released.

Approximately three dozen people attended Spencer’s speech, and many media outlets said they were not allowed access. Instead, the speech was livestreamed.

During his speech, Spencer claimed more people would have attended if they hadn’t been intimidated by all of the protests. He also said 150 tickets were distributed. 

In addition to the protests at Commuter Lot 89 and the Pavilion, there was also a community discussion and a Celebration of Diversity Festival.

2. First man accuses ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse

Jacob Moore is the first man to accuse ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse, multiple media outlets reported.

Moore, a freshman gymnast at University of Michigan, became the first male to accuse Nassar of sexual abuse after he joined several female gymnasts in a civil federal lawsuit against Nassar and those who enabled him.

Moore said he was inspired by his sister’s victim impact statement at Nassar’s sentencing hearing in Ingham County. 

“Me and my sister shouldn’t be able to relate over the fact that we’ve both been abused,” Moore said during a Today interview. “That’s just really sickening to me that he would violate a trust like that, and the things that he did were just awful.”

He told Today he was 16 years old when he was abused by Nassar during a “treatment” for an injured shoulder.

3. Board of Trustees hires high-powered law firm to represent them in light of the Nassar cases

The MSU Board of Trustees hired Akin Gump, a high-powered law firm, to represent them in wake of scrutiny against their lack of transparency during the Nassar cases, according to the Lansing State Journal.

Akin Gump will only represent the board and not the university as a whole. 

MSU is facing several lawsuits filed by survivors of Nassar’s abuse and is also under investigation by Congress, the NCAA, the U.S. Department of Education, the Michigan Attorney General’s Office and the federal Office for Civil Rights. 

The contract said the firm will offer the board a 10 percent discount on its standard hourly rates and the rates will not be more than $990 per hour.

4. Attorney wants MSU to reopen Title IX investigation that allowed Nassar to return to work

An attorney who represents a survivor of ex-MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar’s sexual abuse wants the U.S. Department of Education to reopen MSU’s 2014 sexual misconduct investigation that cleared Nassar. 

Jim Graves, an attorney who represents Amanda Thomashow, wants to reopen and review the Title IX investigation from 2014 that allowed Nassar to continue working at MSU, according to MLive.

Thomashow reported to MSU officials that Nassar sexually abused her during an appointment at the MSU SportsMEDICINE clinic in 2014. 

Approximately 20 other women said they were sexually abused by Nassar between the time he was cleared to continue working in 2014 to when he was eventually fired from MSU in September 2016.

In response to Thomashow’s complaint in 2014, the university reopened the Title IX investigation.

In a letter to the education department on March 9, Graves said the university did not properly conduct the investigation, according to MLive.