Each ribbon featured the name of a Nassar survivor, and students were encouraged to write a message on the back.

However, the mothers were dismayed when the ribbons were removed not once, but twice, without any explanation. The second time they were removed, pieces of cut ribbon could be seen around the tree, said Valerie von Frank, mother of Nassar survivor Grace French.

“It was very upsetting for all of us, because the bows, the ribbons, everything that has our girls’ names on them comes to represent our girls to us,” von Frank said. “I know that it takes time to untie them, but had we been asked, we would have been able to open a discussion. And we weren’t consulted or asked or notified that they were coming down. They were just cut.”

MSU Museum Director Mark Auslander previously helped facilitate a ceremony in July where bows were removed from campus trees to prevent an infestation of gypsy moths. The parents and student allies were the only ones who physically removed the ribbons.

Auslander again helped the mothers open dialogue with the university about the Wills House ribbons, von Frank said.

MSU Spokesperson Emily Guerrant said the university does have a policy about putting things on trees, and facilities staff is trained to follow policy. Because of what happened with the bows last summer, there might’ve been a misunderstanding among facilities staff, who may have removed them, Guerrant said.

Once the university understood and was able to speak to the parents through Auslander, and all parties including the facilities team were on the same page, a collective agreement was reached: The ribbons could stay up for as long as they weren’t posing any type of threat to the trees. The tree was examined last week and there was no current threat, Guerrant said.

“We respect the right of the family members and the survivors to communicate and put the ribbons up,” Guerrant said. “We’re just also grateful for the opportunity to work together with them in protecting the trees on campus.”

Auslander said the ribbons might pose a threat in the event of an ice storm or when the tree begins to bloom, but if that happens, the mothers will be asked to take them down in a similar ceremony to the bows. Faculty, administration and landscaping staff believe the families of survivors should, whenever possible, be allowed to do what they think is important to honor the survivors, he said.

“Everybody wants to make sure the mothers are able to honor all survivors, but at the same time we protect the trees, which everybody loves, including the mothers,” Auslander said.

Von Frank and Beth Esch, the mother of Nassar survivor Amanda Cormier, agreed they would like the ribbons to remain up at least until the opening of the MSU Museum’s survivors exhibit. 

“One of our plans, or hopes, would be that when the museum opens our exhibit, that maybe something that we do with the survivors is go and gather around the tree and take them down at that time,” Esch said. 

Von Frank and Esch are part of a Facebook group called Parents of Sister Survivors Engage, or POSSE. A statement released by the group requests the ribbons to remain up until MSU takes further action, including quickly reinstating the Healing Assistance Fund, releasing 177 documents requested by the Attorney General’s investigation and “funding healing workshops coordinated through the MSU Museum.”

“These are our girls, our daughters, and they’re meant to be up there so MSU and the president can’t just put this behind and say, ‘Well, we’ve written a check, now it’s all over,’” von Frank said.

When people see the ribbons, von Frank said she hopes they take a minute to remember survivors and become more conscious about what they can do to be involved. She hopes the ribbons serve as a reminder that the work is not done and the university’s culture is not yet changed.

“We just need answers,” von Frank said. “It’s just absolutely obscene, and it continues that terrible culture that has existed for decades that enabled this case to occur.”