Engler's Final Act Flops at MSU

January 21, 2019 8:37 AM

After taking the reins at Michigan State University in the wake of the decades-long Nassar sexual abuse scandal, former Governor of Michigan and MSU alumnus John Engler said, "We have an extreme organizational challenge that must be addressed," and praised the courage of the survivors. Less than a year later, as the climate at MSU didn't seem to be getting any better, Engler told a newspaper editorial board that some of the survivors were "enjoying the spotlight". The Board of Trustees had scheduled a meeting to discuss the matter (and likely terminate Engler's interim presidency) when Engler pulled the classic You can't fire me, I quit! maneuver.

Engler wrote an 11-page letter of resignation detailing actions taken during his tenure, pointing various fingers at various enemies, and asserting that "MSU is a dramatically better, stronger institution than it was one year ago."

MSU's Executive Vice President for Administrative Services Satish Udpa will serve as the Acting President of the university, but has said that he does not intend to compete for the position on a permanent basis.

posted by Etrigan (17 comments total)

He's always been trash. Psycho right wing governor bastard. Glad to see him fall.
posted by edheil at 9:11 AM on January 21, 2019 [13 favorites]

If the NCAA had any integrity (lol) I would be dead long before MSU was ever allowed to participate in collegiate sports again. The act of mercy is allowing the university to keep its certification.
posted by East14thTaco at 9:13 AM on January 21, 2019 [7 favorites]

Christ, how hard is it to just not be an asshole for a year?
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:25 AM on January 21, 2019 [13 favorites]

Given the state of humanity for the past x millenia, I'd say... apparently hard for a given subset of the human population in a time period, which sadly, is all it takes.
posted by symbioid at 9:38 AM on January 21, 2019 [4 favorites]

A fucking politician accusing another person of doing anything because they love the spotlight is about as textbook a definition of projection as ever existed.
posted by youthenrage at 9:44 AM on January 21, 2019 [17 favorites]

Blame the victims, hire your friends, call anything you don't like "fake news" ... wonder where he got this these tactics?
posted by CrowGoat at 10:57 AM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]

To call Engler a turd is to insult the turd. He made tons of education cuts and then was announced as the commencement speaker when I graduated. My “college” had their own ceremony so I passed on Engler. He has always been the worst.
posted by 41swans at 11:43 AM on January 21, 2019 [5 favorites]

Engler: committed to being the worst right to the very end.
posted by praemunire at 12:02 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]

At this point, I'd say Rutgers is more welcome in the Big 10 than MSU.
posted by COD at 1:03 PM on January 21, 2019

He was a shitball as a governor. He hasn’t changed a bit.
posted by disclaimer at 1:06 PM on January 21, 2019 [5 favorites]

If the NCAA had any integrity (lol) I would be dead long before MSU was ever allowed to participate in collegiate sports again.

The NCAA walking back its Penn State sanctions pretty much was the end of any integrity it had.
posted by Ranucci at 1:36 PM on January 21, 2019 [5 favorites]

If you stare into John's eyes, you see nothing starring back.
posted by clavdivs at 1:46 PM on January 21, 2019 [1 favorite]

It seems like Engler had a really simple job to do: be sympathetic to a group of folks it ought to have been really easy to sympathize with. The fact that he couldn't muster up some compassion for a group of young girls who had been sexually assaulted by a predator is mind boggling. And this wasn't an "innocent until proven guilty" situation: Engler didn't start until after Nassar had been convicted. Whatever else he was up to at MSU -- and I'm not going to read his 11-page resignation letter to find out -- doesn't matter because his one and only job was to make things right with those girls and in the process improve how MSU looked to the rest of the world.
posted by HiddenInput at 2:34 PM on January 21, 2019 [6 favorites]

Engler is famous for his vile, vile fight to discredit and dehumanize the survivors of horrifying, rampant sexual exploitation and sexual assault in the prison system while he was governor.

When MSU appointed him, the message it sent to all survivors of sexual violence could not possibly have been more transparent.

The survivors deserved better, and frankly, so did every resident of the state of Michigan and the world. MSU--a land-grant institution--was established so that through its work, education and outreach, it would better ordinary people's lives in practical, accessible ways, and serve as a community resource to them. Engler's appointment was yet another betrayal of that purpose, on top of so many other profound betrayals.

I can't even feel glad that he's gone: just a sad, terrible void that he was ever there.
posted by Laetiporus at 3:04 PM on January 21, 2019 [11 favorites]

Another voice for the Engler is a piece of shit side of things. That motherfucker gutted Michigan schools and essentially laid the groundwork for the sorry place the whole state is in. He has no business showing his face in public, let alone being given any sort of role that involves power over other people.
posted by Ghidorah at 4:32 PM on January 21, 2019 [5 favorites]

Oh shit, I can’t believe I forgot the part where Engler bribed one of the trustees to retire so he could get a more sympathetic replacement appointed, but then the Governor who poisoned a city managed to appoint someone good instead.
posted by Etrigan at 4:46 PM on January 21, 2019 [3 favorites]

Christ, how hard is it to just not be an asshole for a year?

John: But I've only ever played an asshole.

Billy: Ah, not-an-asshole's easy. Tell him, Don.

Don: It's incredibly hard.
posted by East14thTaco at 5:07 PM on January 21, 2019 [2 favorites]