It’s an awful experience I wouldn’t wish on anybody.
SCANDAL: A moral and/or legal wrong that captures public attention and incites public outrage. It’s from the Latin scandalum (meaning a cause of offense) and the Old French scandale (meaning to discredit with reprehensible behavior).
I followed the Jerry Sandusky situation at Penn State at a distance, just like millions of other Americans. It never crossed my mind–not even once–that it could happen here. “Here” is Michigan State, the place where I spent nearly 40 years as faculty member and administrator.
Courtesy NBC News
Then came Larry Nassar.
There have been other collegiate scandals—sexual assaults by football players at Baylor, academic fraud at North Carolina, and escorts in basketball recruiting at Louisville—to name recent examples. But none of those scandals rose to the level of ignominy that shrouded State College earlier this decade and hovers over East Lansing today.
Sandusky’s and Nassar’s acts, alone, would have been enough to fit the definition reprinted above. But there’s more to both stories. It’s about institutional actors and the choices they made. Who knew what? When? Did they act responsibly?
Those questions have been adjudicated for Sandusky and three PSU administrators. In East Lansing, Nassar is in prison, an executive administrator has been charged, and others may follow.
But as bad as the Penn State situation was–and with aftershocks, still is–the MSU circumstance seems worse. One reason is the scope of Nassar’s transgressions–hundreds of young women assaulted in a variety of locations worldwide. Another reason is how MSU responded. For example, details in the conclusion section of a Title IX report were passed on to university officials but withheld from a Nassar victim and her family.
It’s one thing to have Nassar do what he did to so many young women over so many years, but it’s another thing to engage in institutional behaviors that appear to put the university brand above all else. And the irony is that MSU secured no advantage by pursuing self-serving objectives. In fact, it made the situation worse. Let that be a lesson for other schools embroiled in scandal.
I know some Spartans feel the same way–very concerned–but I also know that many others do not.
On social media, in comments to news stories, and in personal conversations I’ve experienced a lot of what I call “Deflect/Redirect– a portfolio of responses that always accompanies scandal.
–Attack/discredit reporters and news sources that post stories about the scandal.
–Announce that “fill-in-the-blank” reporter or news company is “out to get us.”
–Make it clear that the offense “is happening everywhere, not just here.”
–And tell people that “If you think it’s bad here, it’s far worse at ‘fill-in-the-blank school’.”
I will say, though, that I was surprised by a substantially different kind of response: “I really don’t know much about it.” Really? Are these Spartans in denial? Possibly, for some, yes. But there’s at least one other reasonable explanation. It’s how people get their news.
Courtesy: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports
The primary news source about MSU for loads of Spartans around the country is … (drum roll) … the university, which is (not unexpectedly) self-protective. Social media—another common news source—doesn’t always expand one’s circle of commentary. If one’s social network is full of fellow partisans, then one is likely to get an abundance of “happy talk” about the university. Another news source–the 24-hour news network–is too busy focusing on “the Trump story of the day” to report and stick with a story like MSU’s.
But, to be fair, all I know for sure is how I feel.
When it comes to athletics, it didn’t take long for my Spartan Spirit to flicker and for my fan interest to wobble. I don’t look forward to the beginning of a season as I once did and I don’t anticipate the games.
I used to wear Spartan gear in public, especially in distant locations. “Sparty On,” I’d say when coming across a fellow Spartan. I don’t wear MSU clothes in public much these days.
And I open the morning newspaper with anticipation, hoping to find evidence that MSU has turned the corner, that better days are ahead. But then I read a headline–like the one published last week in USA Today–that makes me cringe: “MSU is a cesspool of abuse and indifference appears bottomless.” Ugh!
Many people, including Spartans, won’t soon forget what happened in East Lansing. But I suspect many are forgiving people, too.
It’s up to MSU to bring them back.
WOW, Frank! Painful to read. Painful to write?