From the Michigan State Board of Trustees: Internal EMAIL Leaked
You may remember that Spartan Nation reported via Twitter on January 19: “Two Sources from the MSU Board of Trustees told Spartan Nation that they expect President Lou Anna K. Simon's tenure as President to end today after the meeting that started at 10:30. They were NOT speaking for the BOT, it was their opinion.”
Neither of the two Trustees wanted to see President Simon removed from office. It was their assessment that Trustee Mitch Lyons did and with public sentiment with the victims speaking out in the court room that he might have the votes. That was not the case. Shortly after their meeting, the Board of Trustees issued a statement of full supportfor President Simon.
Lyons would later retract his support. YOU CAN READ THAT HERE.
Earlier today a confidential informant reached out to Spartan Nation to deliver an email that was sent from Michigan State University Trustee Mitch Lyons. According to the informant, it was sent via email to the entire Board of Trustees this morning.
Upon reviewing the EMAIL and consulting with counsel, Spartan Nation reached out to Lyons to verify the authenticity of the document and that it was sent to the Board of Trustees this morning. Lyons responded to our voice mail via text at 1:47 PM. Here is the complete text:
“I am not denying I sent the emails to fellow board members yesterday and today. However, those were intended to be board communications only.”
Here is the email in its entirety.
Fellow Trustees,
This LSJ editorial is just the beginning. I implore you to do the right thing for this university. I've told many of you since we first learned of this situation in the fall of 2016, when the timeline was presented to us and we all recognized the lack of oversight in the 2014 protocol implementation, that this was a significant problem for President Simon. More recently, when we learned that Nassar had been allowed to come back to work when the criminal investigation had not been officially resolved, I said the same thing. That day is now here. President Simon should step down immediately in the interests of this university. Whatever impact this does or doesn't have on civil litigation, and/or on President Simon's legacy, are NOT and SHOULD NOT be our top concern at this point.
The only remaining audience in support of her are employees and a dwindling number of donors and soon to be dwindling corporate partners. This isn't going away. We should begin immediately considering an outside stabilizing influence that can step in as interim president, regain the public's trust, and lead us through this turbulent time.
Be Prosperous, Mitch Lyons
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