Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon has announced her resignation in a letter to the university’s Board of Trustees.

Simon is stepping down in the wake of a scandal involving Larry Nassar, who worked at Michigan State as a medical doctor. Nassar was sentenced Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison for molesting young girls and women under the guise of medical treatment.

“As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable. As president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger,” Simon wrote in the letter. “I understand, and that is why I have limited my personal statements. Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to put Team MSU first. … I have tried to make it not about me. I urge those who have supported my work to understand that I cannot make it about me now.

“Therefore, I am tendering my resignation as president according to the terms of my employment agreement.”

Many of the victims accused the university of mishandling past complaints about Nassar.

Simon, who earned her doctorate at Michigan State in 1974, was promoted to school president in 2005. She apologized to the many victims of Nassar’s abuse.

“To the survivors, I can never say enough that I am so sorry that a trusted, renowned physician was really such an evil, evil person who inflicted such harm under the guise of medical treatment,” Simon wrote. “I know that we all share the same resolve to do whatever it takes to avert such tragedies here and elsewhere.”

Michigan lawmakers voted overwhelmingly earlier Wednesday for a resolution seeking Simon’s immediate dismissal.

With AP