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Investigation finds MSU professor not in violation of MSU policy

April 28, 2018
<p>MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon addresses the board as professor Sue Carter, Steering Committee chairperson, looks on Sept. 10 in the board room of the Administration Building. Khoa Nguyen/ The State News</p>

MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon addresses the board as professor Sue Carter, Steering Committee chairperson, looks on Sept. 10 in the board room of the Administration Building. Khoa Nguyen/ The State News

An investigation conducted by MSU's Office of Institutional Equity, or OIE, concluded that journalism professor and ex-MSU Faculty Athletic Representative Sue Carter did not violate university policy while she was formerly engaged in a sexual relationship with a student. 

On Jan. 24, Carter resigned from her position of MSU Athletic Faculty Representative. Her departure shortly followed ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar's sentencing in court. 

“As both professor and priest, I am profoundly saddened by Michigan State University’s public posture and seemingly callous regard for these girls and women," Carter said in her resignation letter.

Shortly after those events, Ellen Fedon-Keyt came forth with allegations that Carter engaged her in an inappropriate sexual relationship over 20 years ago, while Carter was Fedon-Keyt's professor at Wayne State University. 

Disgusted by what she claims was the hypocrisy of Carter’s statements in her resignation letter from Faculty Athletic Representative, Fedon-Keyt wrote her own letter. That letter was responsible for sparking the investigation into Carter by the OIE. 

In the letter, Fedon-Keyt alleged that Carter had taken advantage of her vulnerability after her father's passing. Fedon-Keyt also said Carter’s letter made her feel sick. She also called Carter a hypocrite for pointing out the university’s shortcomings in addressing the victims of Nassar’s sexual abuse. 

In a phone call with the Lansing State Journal, Fedon-Keyt said that Carter acknowledged the affair with her. While the OIE investigation didn’t find Carter in violation of university policies regarding sexual relationships, Fedon-Keyt said she still feels validated. 

“My report was in response to her publicly distancing herself from the Nassar fallout, and I don’t think there’s anything in the OIE report that does anything other than validate my decision to come forward,” Fedon-Keyt told Lansing State Journal.  “Just because something isn’t technically a violation of a policy or the law doesn’t mean it’s ethical.” 

Carter currently acts as a professor in the School of Journalism at MSU where she has been on faculty for over 25 years.

"I find it remarkable that a psychologist, licensed by the State of Michigan, would go to such extraordinary length to pursue an allegation that Michigan State’s Office of Institutional Equity has fully rejected. Hanging onto a claim that is more than a quarter-century old would appear to be neither healthy nor professional, " Carter wrote in an email to The State News. "To her and her handlers who wish me harm, let me suggest it’s: Game Over.”

Click here to read the Lansing State Journal article in which Carter provided the OIE's final investigative report.

This article has been updated to reflect a statement Carter issued in response to Fedon-Keyt's comments.

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