Michigan State University Trustee Joel Ferguson is apologizing for comments he made on a radio show that some said trivialized the suffering of victims of Michigan sports doctor Larry Nassar.
In stating that University President Lou Anna Simon won't be forced out over the Nassar scandal, Ferguson told WVFN-AM this week: "There's so many more things going on at the university than just this Nassar thing."
"Joel Ferguson deeply regrets the inadvertent comment he made on a local radio program that trivialized the experience of the victims of Larry Nassar," a statement sent to the Detroit Free Press by his spokeswoman, Kelly Rossman-McKinney.
She added that Ferguson "recognizes the suffering of these young women and had intended to refer to it as 'the Nassar tragedy.'"
Rossman-McKinney is not representing MSU or the board.
Simon is under intense pressure to resign, with calls for her to step down coming from students, some faculty members and at least one board member.
Ferguson insists the scandal won't tarnish Simon's legacy as university president, saying he's confident an attorney-general investigation into MSU will find its "senior people are not complicit in what this pervert did."
