Six Months Later, Michigan State Notifies Female Athletes

About Its Sexual Assault Scandal

Six Months Later, Michigan State Notifies Female Athletes About Its Sexual Assault Scandal

Photo Credit: Al Goldis/AP Images

Six months after the Larry Nassar sexual assault scandal broke, and after hearing from current and
former female athletes, Michigan State announced on Tuesday that the school sent a mass email
from athletic director Mark Hollis to all female athletes that played for the Spartans over the past 20
years, notifying them of the allegations and investigations of sexual assault facing the former
Michigan State team doctor. The letter, which can be read in full at the bottom of this post, provided
roughly 2,900 athletes with the university police's contact information and links to updated school
policies.

Nassar joined the faculty at the university's College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1997 and would
serve as the team doctor for several Michigan State teams, including women's gymnastics and crew.
He was fired by the university last fall amid a still-growing swell of reports detailing Nassar's string
of sexual assaults, including numerous cases that took place at Michigan State while he was in his
role as a team doctor.

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The letter marks the first time since the allegations made their way to the public's eye in September
2016 that Michigan State has reached out directly to those affected most by Nassar's actions--
current and former female athletes. The letter was sent after the school received notes from multiple
former athletes and students asking the school to take a more proactive approach in how it responds
to the allegations against Nassar as well as former gymnastics coach Kathie Klages, who was named
in a lawsuit filed against the school and Nassar for reportedly discouraging athletes from reporting
Nassar.

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When asked why the school waited to directly contact its current and former female athletes and
whether the move was reactionary in nature, Michigan State spokesperson Jason Cody passed along
the following statement:

Hey Nick, I don't know if it's necessarily fair to call it reactive; we have been working for six months
now to continue to get information to the MSU community and general public about Nassar and how
to report information to police.

That has been done via hundreds of media interviews, web postings/statements at MSU sites and the
president's letter to the MSU community on Feb. 3. That letter went to all current faculty, staff and
students and to about 300,000 alumni (presumably all former student athletes should have gotten
it).

However, over the past couple of weeks, we have heard from some members of the MSU community,
such as some former student athletes, who were still needing information on where to go to report
information on Nassar. This letter to represents another way we are working to get information out.

In the final paragraph of his statement, Cody answers the question being asked--former Michigan
State female athletes potentially affected by Nassar's alleged insidious treatment methods had to
contact to school officials to notify them of their lack of information on the case, which is currently
being investigated internally by the university.

One such former athlete that garnered the attention of both the university officials as well as local
and national attention is former Michigan State crew member Catherine Hannum, who graduated in
2014. During her Michigan State career, Hannum was a regular patient of Nassar's, as he diagnosed
and treated her for Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, which results from compressed nerves or arteries
around the lower neck to armpit area. The TOS, combined with the tolls of practicing and working
out on a rower's regimen, caused constant pain in her ribs.

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Hannum told Deadspin that during her visits with Nassar to treat her condition, the Michigan State
team doctorwould routinely cross physical and social boundaries and cause her to feel
uncomfortable; at the time, she said she and other athletes were "conditioned from the start not to
question his treatment style." She said that because Nassar was a renowned doctor, far out-ranking
the athletic trainers on-staff with D.O. and ties to U.S.A. Gymnastics, his treatment styles were
written off when he helped the athletes return to the field.

For many athletes, returning to full health was the main focus--the Big Ten did not implement
guaranteed four-year scholarships until 2014, the year Hannum graduated, meaning athletes that
sustained injuries and slipping performance levels could have their funding cut on a year-to-year
basis.

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"It was just kind of a widely accepted fact that he got personal in his treatments and it was a
necessary evil of feeling better," Hannum said. "And nobody ever suggested that there was
something darker going on with him. It was just that he was such an advanced physician and he
studied osteopathic medicine, so he understood that kind of treatment in a way that nobody else
really did."

Hannum said that Nassar would massage her breasts during her visits, claiming it was treatment for
her ailing ribs. Athletic trainers were on-hand during these visits, but Hannum said "it didn't seem
like they were paying that much attention to what he was actually doing." She added that in addition
to Nassar's tendency to cross physical boundaries, the team physician also seemed "socially off,"
claiming he would often ask whether her boyfriend gave her massages.

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Hannum was made aware of the scandal last September when a friend texted her a link to the Indy
Star's initial story on Nassar on Sept. 12. Eight days later, Michigan State formally fired Nassar. The
school told the Star it had suspended Nassar from "clinical and patient duties" on Aug. 30; there is
no record of the school publicizing the suspension.

"It was hard at first to think that he would do that, but given the claims that were being made
against him, it seemed ignorant not to believe it," Hannum said. "Then I started to think about my
treatment experiences with him, trying to think back about my four years of him being my doctor,
and things just started to click in my brain about my appointments, his treatment styles, him asking
me if my boyfriend gave me good massages, and just weird stuff like that. And my initial
interpretation of him in general, that he was just socially off. Those things all sort of connected the
dots."

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Hannum said that after she took the time to piece her personal experiences together with what
teammates had confided in each other in the past and the current allegations present in the lawsuit,
she looked to the school for a public response. Past the school firing Nassar, she, and the dozens of
other former athletes that were once patients of Nassar, never heard directly from Michigan State
prior to the Feb. 3 letter from school president Lou Simon to the entire alumni base. The March 7
letter was the first athlete-specific outreach attempt by the school.

Hannum said a friend and classmate wrote to members of the university administration but never
received a response. After not hearing back, they encouraged Hannum to write as well. Believing
her chances of garnering a response would be as likely as her friend's, Hannum decided after two
months of deliberation to make her email a public letter, posting a copy online and bcc'ing various
journalists. Her letter, which was covered by local outlets and earned her an interview with 60
Minutes, called out the administration for its lack of communication with regards to potential former
victims. You can read the full letter here.

I have read President Simon's letter to the MSU community regarding the charges. I am glad to
know Dr. Nassar was fired almost immediately upon news of these allegations. I am glad to know
Coach Klages was suspended and that she later resigned. I am glad to know the University is taking
measures to reinforce and strengthen policies surrounding matters like these - though, I would like a
more clear explanation of what this looks like.

Never-the-less. despite all of this, I have not, as a former patient of Dr. Nassar for nearly four years,
heard from anyone at the University directly. Many of my peers and fellow patients of Dr. Nassar
have not heard from the University either.

It may very well have been nearly impossible to write each one of his patients for the last 20 years,
but it should have been done.Acknowledge the situation and offer support to anyone who might have
suffered at the hands of Dr. Nassar.

It is impossible for me to believe the University is truly attempting a full investigation when it has
not contacted his former patients. If a full investigation were being done, the University should at
least offer to listen to Dr. Nassar's former patients to try to gather as much information as possible
and offer support to anyone who might want or need it.

It is painful to live with the knowledge that a predator http://www.smileusa.com/ was enabled by
silent bystanders to have access to my body for 4 years, and to know that many of my teammates
and athletic peers were put at risk and may have suffered at his hands. It is most painful to me that
my University has not had the integrity to reach out to Dr. Nassar's former patients, apologize and
offer its support to them.

Hannum acknowledged in the interview that patient privacy laws may prevent the school from
specifically emailing former patients, but said that an email to former athletes should have occurred
months ago at the beginning stages of the investigations.

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"I think at the very least they could have sent a mass email to former student-athletes addressing the
issue," Hannum said. "Saying that, 'This happened, we're sorry this happened, if anybody you know
or if you've been affected these are the resources available, here are the steps we're taking to
improve and figure out how this even happened.'"

School officials responded to Hannum's February email, directing her to the Office of Institutional
Equity and the Michigan State police department. Three weeks after receiving her email, the school
issued Hollis's letter to former athletes.

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In our interview, Hannum also criticized the school for a lack of transparency, citing the fact that the
university opted to conduct an internal investigation of the Nassar case--the school is currently
employing an external firm to review its football team after three players and a staff member were
suspended pending a sexual assault investigation.
"It would be nice to have an independent investigator looking into this because I feel the public
would have more transparent information and we would be able to better understand how this
person was able to exist in this environment for so long," Hannum said. "I think by not having an
independent investigator, that the school is less likely to give us all the facts and information
because they're trying to protect themselves."

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As directed by school officials, Hannum reported her experience to MSU police, which is currently
conducting an investigation of Nassar. According to the Q&A posted on its website, the investigative
findings will be passed on to the state attorney general for review. Michigan State police wrote that
they received their first complaint against Nassar in 2014; they say they sent the report to Ingham
County Prosecutor's Office, which declined to press charges.

Since the case reached the public's purview, they have dedicated "17 investigators, digital forensics
detectives and a crime analyst" to investigate more than 80 reports of sexual assault.

As detailed in a Lansing State Journal report, Michigan State's Title IX department conducted an
internal investigation of Nassar in 2014 after an athlete complained that he became aroused after
massaging her breasts and vagina during a visit to treat hip pain. After the school sought the
opinions of four medical experts with close ties to Nassar and Michigan State during the internal
investigation, her claim was dismissed, with the school telling her she did not grasp the "nuanced
difference" between sexual assault and a medical procedure. When reached for comment, Cody told
the State Journal, "I think the university made the right decision with http://www.smileusa.com/ the
information we had at the time."

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When asked why the university opted for an internal investigation rather than employ an external
firm to review the Nassar scandal, Michigan State provided the following comment to Deadspin on
Feb. 15, following the announcement of Klages's resignation:

"As to why any two situations may be handled differently, the answer is the details and
circumstances of any two situations can vary greatly."

The full letter sent to Michigan State athletes can be found below via MLive:

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"Dear Spartan

As has been reported widely in media and was addressed by President Simon's Feb. 3 letter to the
MSU community, former MSU employee Larry Nassar faces mutliple criminal charges for sexual
assault. Through his work with the MSU Health Team, Nassar served as a team physician seeing
student-athletes across multiple sports.

Because you are a member of the MSU Athletics family, I am writing to ensure you are aware of how
to report information about any suspected wrongdoing while you were a student-athlete. Any
member of the MSU community, past or present, who may have information relevant to the ongoing
Nassar investigation is urged to call MSUPD's toll free tip line at 844-99-MSUPD.
The MSUPD will follow up on all relevant information it receives. To the extent MSUPD receives
information is not relevant to ongoing criminal inquires, MSUPD will forward that information to the
University's outside counsel and University offices responsible for conducting investigations on the
University's behalf, as appropriate.

Information about commuinity, state and national sexual assault resources can be found online at
titleix.msu.edu and endrape.smu.edu.

The core values of MSU Athletics are clear: respect for self and others, accountability for actions
and cjhoices, and integrity. Sexual assault, in any form, is unacceptable. We will continue our
commitment to creating a culture that is safe, supportive, responsive and accountable."

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