Michigan State University has formally approved Bill Beekman as its new athletic director.
Beekman has been the interim director since February, when former athletic director Mark Hollis stepped down in the wake of the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal. Beekman most recently served as secretary to the MSU board of trustees, whose vote to approve him as athletic director was unanimous.
MSU professor Anna Pegler-Gordon is not pleased by the decision. She’s an outspoken critic of the university administration.
“This meeting was called too quickly for there to be any public comment, and then they sit around and say the entire university is onboard with this,” says Pegler-Gordon. “They don’t know that. They don’t care.”
MSU opted not to conduct a national search for its new athletic director, reversing what interim president John Engler indicated earlier this year.
Beekman says the university has been reviewing all its policies and training to ensure every student has “the safest possible experience” at MSU.
