Daughters*, part 2

After I finished this afternoon's post, I realized that the title might lead one to think of the recent scandal at Michigan State University, so I will do my best to write something coherent and helpful.

I'm lucky, I guess--I have a mom, two sisters, and female cousins all over the country, and I know how angry I'd be if they had an encounter with someone like Dr. Nassar.  The Christian I'm called to be says to be forgiving, especially if I'm for giving him a punch in the nose (and a few other strategic places). 

Not to dismiss the hundreds of young women's suffering, but I wonder if half the fuss that was made at MSU would have been made if it was members of the women's basketball team instead of pretty, white, well-heeled, Olympic-level gymnasts (and I don't think I'm stereotyping here). 

I'm a University of Michigan grad (BM '82), and proud of that fact; nonetheless I empathize with the students of MSU in their time of anger and uncertainty.  The depth and breadth of what happened is nothing short of mind-boggling, and heads have rolled, from the university president to the athletic director (with more sure to  follow). The MSU Board of Trustees did themselves no favors by eschewing comparisons to Penn State, especially that knothead Joel Ferguson. Ironically, the more he sounded off, the easier it was to make the leap between the two scandalized schools. I can only imagine that the Board will look a little different come the next election. A breach of trust of this magnitude may well have the students and alumni wondering who to believe (and believe in). Like their fellow land-grant institution, I believe that lasting change at MSU will not come easily, if at all. School ties run deep in Michigan. People I know out here on the East coast are always amused when I tell them that families break up over the U-M/MSU rivalry, but I'm pretty sure that if you spend enough time in the state, you'll learn at least one related story. If the MSU Board of Trustees had any sense, they would do well to take a long, reflective look at PSU, to ascertain if its entrenched institutional exceptionalism in any way parallels their own recent words and actions.

Michigan's three largest research institutions of higher educaton--U-M, MSU, and Wayne State University in Detroit--have their respective boards of directors chosen in the primary and general elections, and their place on the ballot is generally only of interest to the higher-ups in the two political parties and the respective university communities--at least until now. Recall election, anyone?