Michigan State University has agreed to begin a review of its policies, structure and culture surrounding relationship violence and sexual misconduct in the wake of the multiple cases of sexual abuse by the disgraced former MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.
An advisory board made up of experts and survivors will help select an independent firm to conduct the institutional assessment.
Rachael Denhollander, who is serving on the advisory board, is an attorney working in abuse prevention and crisis response. She was the first person to publicly accuse disgraced former sports doctor Larry Nassar of sexual abuse.
Denhollander said she has been urging the university to undertake the assessment since 2018.
“The heartbeat of every survivor is to know that the next generation is going to be better protected, is not going to go through what they went through,” Denhollander said. “But achieving that goal is impossible without robust diagnostics. We can’t fix what we won’t diagnose.”
She credited changes in leadership, including President Kevin Guskiewicz, with why the assessment is finally moving forward.
Trinea Gonczar, the director of engagement for Avalon Healing Center, and Sterling Riethman, the vice president of communications and public policy for New Belgium Brewing, join Denhollander on the advisory board. They are both also survivors of Nassar’s abuse.
Other members on the advisory board include MSU professor Rebecca Campbell, who researches how systems respond to sexual assault, and Andrea Munford, the lead detective on the Nassar case.
While the university has completed some small assessments, Denhollander said she hopes the new assessment will bring everything under a single umbrella to get a more complete view.
“Part of this process is really looking at everything that’s been done and saying, ‘Have we accurately diagnosed – across the spectrum, not specific to Nassar, but across the spectrum – have we accurately diagnosed the breakdowns that we had and are we putting forward effective reform?’” Denhollander said.
Denhollander said the assessment will be a “robust, multi-faceted, comprehensive” review of the university’s culture, policies and structure, leading to recommendations to be more responsive to abuse survivors.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.