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Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon speaks during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new MSU College of Human Medicine Research Center in downtown Grand Rapids on Thursday, June 18, 2015.

(Emily Rose Bennett | MLive.com)

EAST LANSING -- Michigan State University President Lou Anna K. Simon is showing public support for football coach Mark Dantonio and athletic director Mark Hollis as a pair of sexual assault investigations involving athletics are ongoing at the university.

At a Friday morning Board of Trustees meeting on campus, trustees approved a one-year contract extension for Dantonio, an action taken yearly as spelled out in his six-year, rolling contract signed last January.

Asked afterward about Dantonio and his program, Simon indicated that the board's approval of his contract was a sign of confidence.

"My sense is that if we had anything to be concerned about, we wouldn't have moved forward with the action today," Simon said. "We're still looking at everything, because it's in his interests as well."

Simon also addressed Hollis and his response to both a sexual assault complaint made against members of the football team and to the investigation into former Michigan State doctor Larry Nassar, who served as the team doctor for the gymnastics and women's rowing teams.

Hollis suspended longtime gymnastics coach Kathie Klages earlier this week, claiming she passionately defended Nassar in a team meeting. Earlier this week, he opted to skip a planned trip as the chair of the NCAA men's basketball committee to focus on duties on campus.

Simon called the suspension of Klages an "extraordinarily important action."

"I would want that from any athletic director, in the same way I would want any athletic director to provide an environment where the sexual assault of a high profile set of student athletes can be investigated in the most full fashion and support that investigation," Simon said.

"I think that speaks highly of him and sets him apart of some of the other issues that are around the country with athletic directors."

Members of the board of trustees did not address the media following the meeting, but board chairman Brian Breslin read a prepared statement on behalf of the trustees that said, in part, "we affirm sexual assault has no place in our Spartan community."

Michigan State announced on Feb. 9 that MSU Police were investigating a sexual assault complaint filed against three members of the football team in January. On Thursday, MSU Police submitted four warrant requests to the Ingham County Prosecutors' office, which in turn asked the MSU Police for further evidentiary material before making a decision on those requests.

Michigan State also announced that a member of the football staff had been suspended while that investigation is ongoing. The school later confirmed that staff member Curtis Blackwell is suspended with pay, but declined to say whether that suspension is related to the investigation.

In addition, the university also launched a Title IX investigation into the complaint and an investigation into the football program by an independent law firm, which Simon identified on Friday as Miller Canfield.

Simon said the decision to launch a separate, independent investigation into the football program wasn't made due to larger concerns about the program.

"I have no necessary concerns that there are big issues, but the confidence of the community requires that we look at it diligently," Simon said.

Simon defended what she called a "quick and strong" response into the sexual assault complaint filed against football players.

"You could have thought if we were only worrying about reputation, we could have taken a little more time, and that might have been defensible," Simon said.