Former College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean did not believe allegations against Nassar

Former Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine William Strampel, Nassar’s former boss, did not believe the sexual abuse claims against Nassar, nor did he want to fire him, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Strampel stepped down from his position as dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine in December 2017 for medical leave, and Interim President John Engler moved to terminate Strampel in early February.

“As soon as I found out I had to fire his ass. I didn’t want to, but what am I supposed to do?” Strampel said about Nassar, according to a written account from October 2016 obtained by the Wall Street Journal. 

In this meeting with four students and three administrators from October 2016, Strampel reportedly said he did not believe the abuse accusations.

“This just goes to show that none of you learned the most basic lesson in medicine, medicine 101, that you should have learned in your first week: don’t trust your patients,” Strampel said. “Patients lie to get doctors in trouble. And we’re seeing that right now in the news with this Nassar stuff. I don’t think any of these women were actually assaulted by Larry, but Larry didn’t learn that lesson and didn’t have a chaperone in the room, so now they see an opening and they can take advantage of him.”  

Wall Street Journal also reported Strampel had students perform prostate and rectal exams on him in 2005 when the male model for the class did not show up. A student did the exam because he was afraid of failing if he did not.

Lawsuits from Nassar survivors add defendants 

While Nassar is in federal prison in Arizona, lawsuits against him as well as MSU, USA Gymnastics, the MSU Board of Trustees and related parties and people are still moving forward. 

A lawsuit filed by Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to go public with allegations of Nassar’s abuse, added four more defendants. 

Those added are former MSU Gymnastics head coach Kathie Klages, former College of Osteopathic Medicine Dean William Strampel, retired MSU professor of Clinical Psychology Gary Stollak and Clinical Director of MSU SportsMEDICINE Douglas Dietzel.

Stollack filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, but no action has been taken on it yet.

Father who lunged at Nassar donates fundraised $30,000 to survivor charities

Randall Margraves, the father of three Nassar survivors who lunged at Nassar during his Eaton County sentencing, has donated almost $30,000 to charity.

The money was raised through an unauthorized GoFundMe page after the incident in court, before the page was suspended. Some money was refunded, but the remaining amount was donated to local charities that support survivors of sexual abuse and sexual assault.

Through a statement from his attorney, Mick Grewal, Margraves said he did not need the money raised through the page and said he would donate it.

The money was divided equally and given to Small Talk, Relief after Violent Encounters, End Violent Encounters and the Firecracker Foundation, according to the Lansing State Journal.