Michigan State University's board of trustees approved the issuance bond to finance legal a $500 million legal settlements with hundreds of girls and women sexually assaulted by convicted serial child molester Larry Nassar. Nassar was the doctor for the USA Gymnastics national team and an osteopathic physician at Michigan State.

Victim Kyle Stephens, Larry Nassar, John Engler

The university will also raise tuition between 2.2 - 2.5% for most in-state students - which will not be used to pay the Nassar settlement. Amid a cash crunch, top administrative and leadership salaries, while raising reducing raises for faculty to 1.5% vs. the typical 2.5%.

The 50,000-student university is under intense financial pressure following deep budget cuts several years ago - though their net position has improved since 2015 per their most recent annual financial report.

At one point during the board meeting, MSU interim President John Engler's job was on the line when trustee Brian Mosallam suddenly changed the agenda to allow for a vote to remove Engler over a disparaging comment he made over email about an accuser and her lawyer.

While the audience cheered the motion, it was defeated 6-2. Engler drew sharp criticism after suggesting that Rachael Denhollander - one of Nassar's most outspoken accusers, must have received a "kickback" from her attorney. some 150 Nassar accusers were demanding Engler's departure before he issued a written apology on Thursday.

"I didn't give it the consideration it warranted," he wrote. "That was a big mistake. I was wrong. I apologize."

The FBI sat on the Nassar investigation

After FBI offices in three cities were told in July of 2015 that sports doctor Lawrence "Larry" Nassar had been molesting elite gymnasts, the agency advised officials with the US Gymnastics team "not to discuss the case with anyone," before sitting on their hands for over a year - while dozens of girls continued to fall victim to the once-respected Doctor.

Nassar routinely gave his teenage victims highly inappropriate massages under the guise of providing legimiate therapy, with some as young as 12.

Jane Doe is an Olympic medalist who claims she was sexually assaulted by Nassar from 1994 to 2000, from when she was 12 or 13 until she was 18. She is also suing USA Gymnastics and three of its past presidents, according to the Indianapolis Star. The lawsuit claims the organization was warned about Nassar and did not adequately address concerns about him. In the lawsuit she accuses Nassar of “groping and fondling” her “vagina and anus.” The lawsuit claims Nassar began “grooming” her in 1994 “under the guise of care, athletic training, osteopathy and kinesiology to normalize intimate, inappropriate and sexually abusive contact.” She accuses Nassar of fondling and groping her “feet, ankles, thighs, buttocks, hips, waist, breast, arms, shoulders and neck” while claiming it was part of the treatment. -Heavy (July, 2016)

In February, the New York Times identified "at least 27 girls and women who say Dr. Nassar molested them between July 2015, when he first fell under F.B.I. scrutiny, and September 2016, when he was exposed by an Indianapolis Star investigation."

Many girls and young women still seeing Dr. Nassar received no warning of the sexual assault allegations.



Among them was Emma Ann Miller, now 15. She had about a dozen sessions with Dr. Nassar between the summers of 2015 and 2016, her lawyer said. https://t.co/2tlBffRjBE pic.twitter.com/ZzDkMscPwD — The New York Times (@nytimes) February 3, 2018

The three alleged victims then at the center of the F.B.I.’s inquiry were world-class athletes; two were Olympic gold medalists. Nearly a year passed before agents interviewed two of the young women. The silence at times drove the victims and their families to distraction, including Gina Nichols, the mother of the gymnast initially known as “Athlete A”: Maggie Nichols, who was not contacted by the F.B.I. for nearly 11 months after the information she provided sparked the federal inquiry. “I never got a phone call from the police or the F.B.I.” during that time, Gina Nichols, a registered nurse, said. “Not one person. Not one. Not one. Not one.” -NYT

The FBI declined to comment on the investigation, aside from a 112-word statement that said "the safety and well-being of our youth is a top priority for the F.B.I.," while adding that the many allegations against Dr. Nassar "transcended jurisdictions" - an apparent excuse for the agency's lack of action on the case.