Michigan State University’s board is silent on a proposed special meeting to publicly consider the release of thousands of long-withheld documents relating to the university's handling of disgraced ex-MSU doctor Larry Nassar.
The idea was spurred by a surprise motion at the board’s last regular meeting on Oct. 27.
During comments from the faculty liaisons to the board, trustee Dennis Denno leaned forward and asked that the board take a much-requested public vote on releasing the documents. But, his abrupt motion was killed by the board’s parliamentarians, who said it was not allowed by the board's bylaws.
Trustee Dan Kelly then interjected and suggested the board instead plan a special meeting to take a public vote on the documents before its next regular meeting in Dec.
Board chair Rema Vassar was supportive of Denno’s motion but eventually moved on with the meeting, acknowledging that the rules prohibited it.
“I apologize for not being able to honor your wish for transparency in this moment," Vassar said at the meeting. "I am not the parliamentarian."
Denno then said “you never have anything to apologize to me for.”
Vassar has not returned multiple calls and messages from The State News asking if she intends to call for the proposed special meeting. The board’s bylaws designate Vassar as the board’s sole representative to the media.
To make the special meeting happen, five trustees would need to request it, according to the bylaws.
MSU spokesperson Emily Guerrant said she is not aware of calls for a special meeting on the Nassar docs.
The board last held a special meeting in Aug. to consider then-newly-legalized sales of alcohol in MSU stadiums.
The calls for that special meeting were undisputed, Guerrant said Monday.
“They all sort of knew they needed a meeting … there was no disagreement,” Guerrant said.
The issue of releasing the documents was thrust back into the public eye by an Oct. 11 letter calling for Vassar’s removal over, among other things, her failed attempt to release the documents in April.
The letter, written by fellow trustee Brianna Scott, alleged that Vassar told Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel she had the votes to release the documents, but hadn’t actually asked the other board members if they would actually support it.
Nessel has long sought the documents because she says they’re essential to her investigation into "how and why the University failed to protect students."
Because of Vassar’s promise of support, Nessel sent the board a letter reaffirming her demand in April. At a board meeting later that week, Vassar announced that the board would not be releasing the documents.
Nessel told The State News at the time that she had “literally no idea” why Vassar would tell her she could release the documents and then not do it.
Vassar has denied Scott and Nessel’s allegations, saying trustees approached her with intentions to release the documents. She hasn’t explained what changed before the meeting that lead her to not release the documents.
The recent clash over the allegations prompted campus organizations and survivors of Nassar’s abuse to call for an immediate public vote on the matter.
ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, voted “no confidence” in the board on Nov. 2, the second time they’ve done so in little over a year. Their bill lists several instances in which they claim the Board of Trustees acted against the best interests of MSU and its students, including refusing to release the Nassar documents.
ASMSU Vice President of Internal Affairs Connor Le called the withholding of the documents a "total failure to protect and support survivors of sexual assault at MSU."
The Council of Racial and Ethnic Students and Council of Progressive Students also voted "no confidence” against the board Monday, calling for the board to cease internal conflict and instead focus on releasing the documents.
Survivors of Nassar’s abuse have long attended board meetings to demand the release of the documents.
“I really would like to close the door on this whole stage of life so that it can fully start to heal,” survivor Jennifer Hayes said after the board’s Sept. meeting. “I know they’re tired of us. We show up in teal and they’re like, ‘oh, not again.’”
In a statement read to the board at the Oct. meeting, Rachel Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar of sexual assault, demanded the board release the documents.
Denhollander, an attorney, said in the statement that she put forward multiple models for how the board could release the documents while respecting the privacy of the survivors mentioned in them.
Vassar said in April that she didn’t release the documents because doing so would “retraumatize” survivors.
The board has also long argued that they were also prevented from releasing the documents because of legal disagreements with 12 of the university’s insurers regarding a $500 million settlement to Nassar survivors.
The insurers argued that MSU’s failure to act on reports of Nassar’s abuse left the university outside its policies and on the hook for the settlement, according to court filings.
Those legal battles have now all been resolved, Vassar said in Sept.
