MSU's Lou Anna Simon's apology to Nassar's victims rings hollow, and distant

Jan. 17--An apology means nothing if it's not sincere.

It's a simple lesson most of us try to teach our children when they wrong one another: Look her in they eye, and tell her you're sorry for what you did. Then don't betray her trust again.

It's a lesson Michigan State University President Lou Anna Simon and the MSU Board Chairman Brian Breslin have yet to learn.

Simon and Breslin didn't look the victims of Larry Nassar's habitual sexual assaults in the eye Tuesday in Ingham County Circuit Court, where they made public statements about the havoc Nassar's abuse caused over two decades in sports medicine at MSU.

Although Simon offered a blanket apology to victims at a December board meeting, saying: "I am truly sorry for the abuse you suffered, the pain it caused and the pain it continues to cause today. I'm sorry a physician who called himself a Spartan so utterly betrayed your trust and everything this university stands for," she couldn't be bothered to attend Tuesday's hearing.

She and Breslin weren't there to hear the dozens of courageous survivors offer gripping testimony about what Nassar did to them. They didn't see them wipe away tears as they described the night terrors, the flashbacks and anxiety that ensued in the years after their assaults.

Nor did they see the photographs of tiny athletes wearing broad smiles and leotards projected on a screen in the courtroom -- showing how the victims looked when Nassar first laid his hands on them.

They didn't get to console Donna Markham, who wept as she described how Nassar's molestation changed her daughter, Chelsea, and was the beginning of a downward slide that ultimately led to Chelsea's suicide.

A spokesman for Michigan State University told the Lansing State Journal that Simon and Breslin would not attend the hearing because "Nassar's sentencing is about getting justice for the victims, and the focus should remain on the victims."

He added, however, that the MSU leaders would watch live streaming of the sentencing hearing.

At least they're watching. Perhaps they heard Olivia Cowan call them cowards when she testified about her own abuse under the guise of medical care at the hands of Nassar a decade ago.

"Your decision to watch from the sidelines is perfect representation of your lack of leadership," Cowan said.

"You have apologized for him, and for the horrible things he has done. That is not enough. At what point will you look at yourselves in the mirror and realize that taking ownership of this matter is the only way to truly bring about change?"

And that's a big part of the problem.

There's no excuse for why Simon and Breslin skipped the hearing, but there's also no excuse for the systemic problems at MSU that failed these girls and young women for so long.

Two teenage girls said they separately told former MSU women's gymnastics coach Kathie Klages about Nassar's misconduct in the late 1990s. They allege in a lawsuit that Klages urged them not to report Nassar to authorities. Other court filings suggest additional sexual assault reports were made to MSU coaches and trainers in the early 2000s as well.

But it wasn't until 2014 that MSU first investigated claims against Nassar. Still the university allowed him to continue working as a sports medicine doctor -- with unfettered access to girls and young women -- for 16 months while university police conducted its review.

A separate Title IX investigation was launched in 2014 as well, but Nassar was cleared of misconduct based on the opinions of four medical experts with connections to Nassar and MSU.

An Indianapolis Star exposé published in August 2016 uncovered sexual assault allegations at USA Gymnastics, where Nassar also worked in sports medicine. That finally led to Nassar's firing at MSU.

Following the Indianapolis Star report, at least 140 women and girls have come forward -- including Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney -- to accuse Nassar of sexually abusing them. Many have sued the university, saying MSU knew or should have known about Nassar's sexual abuse, yet failed to protect them from that abuse.

The university hired a former federal prosecutor to conduct an internal investigation to discover who knew about Nassar's sexual assault allegations, and when they knew it. But Simon declined to make the findings of that investigation public.

The attorney the university hired wrote: "We believe the evidence will show no MSU official believed that Nassar committed sexual abuse prior to newspaper reports in late summer 2016."

A detailed summary of the findings, MSU told the state attorney general's office, were never put in writing. Therefore, there were no findings to divulge.

Where is Simon's apology for that?

In the aftermath of such a horrific scandal, how can Simon offer victims such a hollow apology, and then further betray their trust with such an utter lack of transparency?

It's not just Nassar's victims who've been betrayed.

None of us can count on Simon to protect our sons and daughters on the East Lansing campus of our publicly funded university without a commitment to an independent investigation by an outside agency and full disclosure of its findings.

Just as bad is MSU's out-of-touch Board of Trustees, which continues to support Simon's kind of leadership, going so far as to recommend a raise for her last month.

To her credit, Simon declined the raise, instead deferring the $150,000 pay increase to a scholarship fund. At the same time, the board announced a $10 million fund to provide counseling and mental health services for women and girls who say Nassar abused them.

That's a start, but it's not enough.

"Where were you when we needed you?" Cowan said through tears Tuesday in the courtroom. "If you would have only listened to all the women that brought complaints and concerns over all these years, this would have saved so many children and women from being abused and from all the scars this has created."

Undoubtedly.

The victims deserve better. Michigan deserves better.

We deserve leaders who show up and face those who have been hurt by their failings.

We deserve leaders who not only launch independent investigations, but also release those findings publicly and are accountable for their shortfalls.

Right now, Lou Anna Simon and the Michigan State University Board of Trustees aren't doing any of those things.

"All the signs were there," Cowan said. "The complaints should have been enough to open your eyes and ears and ensure there was intentional follow-through involved to protect the women under your care.

"You failed all of us."

It's inherent on the people of Michigan to ensure that doesn't happen again.

Contact Kristen Jordan Shamus: 313-222-5997 or kshamus@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @kristenshamus.

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