A Question of Leadership: Lou Anna Simon and Michigan State University

How could a woman let this happen?

It’s the question I keep asking myself.  How could a woman create – or tolerate – a culture that utterly failed her gender?

When The Detroit News revealed in a January 18, 2018, investigative report that at least 14 Michigan State University (MSU) personnel knew about the allegations against Larry Nassar years before he was arrested, it was debatable how much longer President Lou Ann Simon could hold on. Over the following days, the intense public scrutiny and a loss of confidence from some Board of Trustees members led to the inevitable: President Simon resigned on January 24.

Then, ESPN released an even more comprehensive report on January 26, detailing a long track record of sexual intimidation, harassment and abuse of female students at MSU – almost all at the hands of male student athletes. 

There are multiple investigations under way, including by state and federal authorities and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Not to mention the hundreds of civil lawsuits against MSU that could cost millions. MSU now stands where Penn State did after the Jerry Sandusky scandal in 2012.

How could a woman let this happen?

Dr. Simon had a distinguished career at MSU, working her way through the academic ranks after being hired as a faculty member in 1974. She was named interim president in 2003 and her interim status was removed in 2005. 

In the wake of what happened at Penn State, Simon wrote the following to the entire MSU community before the start of the 2012-13 academic year:

"The University strives to offer a safe and supportive learning and working environment for all individuals," Simon writes in the email. "In support of that goal, the University has reporting protocols for its employees with respect to certain conduct. As we begin the start of another academic year, I write to remind University employees about the reporting protocols for suspected child abuse, child pornography, and allegations of sexual assault." (Source)

At around the same time, Simon was elected as the chair of the Executive Committee of the NCAA. She said, in direct response to the incidents at Penn State:

"The purpose is to try to incentivize people doing the right thing, and the right thing is saying something when you see something and doing something after you said something. It's really that simple." (Source)

By her words, Lou Anna Simon knew the right thing to do: to create an environment in which young people could learn and improve their athletic skills without fear of abuse.

So what happened? Did she create the culture at MSU, one that seems to favor male student athletes above anyone else? A culture that minimizes and silences when uncomfortable truths are told? Or was it already there and did she allow it to continue, either by inaction or tacit approval?

Of the eight-member Board of Trustees at MSU, only two were elected before Simon became president. One of those two is Vice Chairman Joel Ferguson, who dismissively stated on a local radio show that “there are so many more things going on at the university than just this Nassar thing.”

Is that where Simon picked up her notions of the type of culture that MSU should engender?

If nothing else, what happened at MSU is a stark lesson for leaders everywhere. Leadership flows from the top down.

It is the actions – or inactions -- of an organization’s leadership that determine your culture, not what you say in company emails or whether or not you have your values posted on the wall of every conference room.

How could a woman let this happen?

Am I holding Simon to a higher standard because she’s a woman and the victims were women? Maybe, although that’s not fair to the male children who were molested by Jerry Sandusky.  I suppose I expected that a woman like Simon would have a slightly higher sensitivity to abuses of gender and power.

But I will hold Simon and the Board to a higher standard because this should not have happened in the wake of Penn State.  We cannot afford to learn this lesson again.