Michigan State University’s long-secret “Nassar documents” have finally been released, giving the public access to a plethora of previously privileged communications and memoranda generated amid the chaos of the scandal.
The State News reviewed every one of the more than 6000 documents released last week. While they do lack the sort of central “smoking gun” some may have hoped for, they are a truly extraordinary insight into a university’s handling of an unprecedented crisis. They are MSU’s true reactions to and strategies for each moment of the Nassar saga, laid bare for all to see.
Newly-public documents shed light on former MSU President Lou Anna Simon's handling of the Nassar scandal. Some internal communications cement popular negative opinions of her, while others show a president beset by the constraints of her office.
Long-secret documents reveal the ways MSU monitored and categorized survivors of Nassar’s abuse.
MSU's internal communications throughout the Nassar saga — contained in 6,000 pages of documents released last week by the attorney general's office — show a constant push and pull between the PR pros tasked with salvaging the university's image, and the lawyers tasked with avoiding a large settlement.