9:03 am | September 5, 2019 | Go to Source | Author:
Michigan State University will pay a fine of $4.5 million and has agreed to make “major changes” to its Title IX procedures to resolve a Department of Education investigation into how the institution handled sexual assault complaints related to disgraced university doctor Larry Nassar.
The $4.5 million penalty is the largest Clery Act fine ever levied by the U.S. Department of Education, according to an announcement released Thursday morning.
A pair of 19-month investigations started by the department found that Michigan State showed a lack of administrative capability and failed to follow federal regulations for monitoring, reporting and warning the campus community about sexual assault crimes.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos called Michigan State’s mishandling of Nassar and his boss — former medical school dean William Strampel — “abhorrent, inexcusable, and a total and complete failure.”
“Michigan State will now pay for its failures and will be required to make meaningful changes to how it handles Title IX cases moving forward,” DeVos said Thursday. “No future student should have to endure what too many did because concerns about Larry Nassar and William Strampel were ignored.”
Nassar was sentenced in 2018 to up to 175 years in state prison after pleading guilty to sexually abusing his patients while working at Michigan State. More than a half dozen women say they complained about Nassar to coaches, athletic trainers and other employees at the university.
The complaints, which did not result in any action against the former doctor, started as early as 1997.
Nassar was cleared of wrongdoing by the university’s Title IX department after a 2014 complaint from former patient Amanda Thomashow. Strampel reminded Nassar in the wake of Thomashow’s complaint of certain protocols that he needed to follow while treating patients, but he failed to put any measures in place to make sure Nassar was following those steps.
Strampel was sentenced last month to spend a year in prison for misconduct of a public official and willful neglect of duty. An investigation into Strampel’s past also revealed that university leaders did not act despite a list of sexual harassment complaints made against Strampel starting as early as 2005. Former medical students accused him of suggesting they could receive preferential treatment in exchange for sexual favors or nude photos.
The Department of Education began its investigation into Michigan State in February 2018, shortly after Nassar finished the second of two sentencing hearings in state court.
Along with the record fine, Michigan State will also be required to hire an independent Clery Compliance Officer and establish a Clery Compliance Committee. The Clery Act is a federal law that requires colleges to accurately and transparently share crime statistics and information about campus crime policies with the public.
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