Shemy Schembechler reacts after leaving Michigan football over tweets
Just three days after joining the Michigan football program as a member of the recruiting department, Glenn "Shemy" Schembechler resigned his post amid criticism of his previous social media activity, in particular on his Twitter account.
Schembechler's now-deleted social feed featured posts and likes that appeared to support aspects of slavery and Jim Crow-era segregation, resulting in controversy and widespread negative reaction on campus and nationally.
Following the revelation and his departure, Schembechler has made his first public statement.
"Any words or philosophies that in any way seek to underplay the immeasurable suffering and long-term economic and social inequities that hundreds of years of slavery and the "Jim Crow" era caused for black Americans is wrong," Schembechler said in a statement released by a PR firm to ESPN.
The statement continued, "I was wrong. We must never sanitize morally unsanitary, historical behaviors that have hindered the black community, or any other community. There are no historical silver linings for the experience of our brothers and sisters."
Shemy served as a graduate assistant at Michigan in 1993 following his graduation from Miami (Ohio) the year before and had served as a scout for several NFL franchises.
Schembechler's father Bo won 13 Big Ten football championships during his time at Michigan and finished with a career record of 234-65-8, entering the College Football Hall of Fame in 1993. He died in 2006.
But his legacy at Michigan was complicated by allegations that he did not properly address reports of abuse related to team doctor Robert Anderson. A year ago, Michigan agreed to a $450 million settlement with Anderson's victims.
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