Trustee elections matter even more in wake of Larry Nassar scandal

Carol Lemelin is a retired widow who has lived in St. Clair Shores for more than 40 years.

She’s a Detroit native and what she calls “a born and bred Democrat,” who has had seven careers: homemaker, mom, retail training supervisor, software teacher, support tech, inventory consultant and worship coordinator at a Catholic church. Oh, and she now writes a blog.

But as she watched a young woman face the monster accused of abusing her and more than 150 others, Lemelin felt she might not have done all she could have in another job: full-time voter.

She has nothing to do with the Larry Nassar case, but she said she hasn't always paid attention to candidates vying to be trustees of public universities, people elected to oversee our children.

Oh, you know we all do it. The trustees are those down-ballot candidates we mostly do not know, rarely investigate and hope mean well.

“Whenever the elections come up to vote for the trustees for the universities, I never vote for anyone because I am afraid who might get elected,” she said. “I realize now I should do some research. I didn't think it really mattered.”

It matters.

As Michigan State sinks in the mire while handling the nation’s worst sex abuse scandal, it has become clear just how big a disappointment its board of trustee is. And they're not done yet.

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The board, which has already let down millions of residents, thousands of students and more than 150 girls and young women, is still making wrong-headed decisions.

Those trustees, who all should have resigned with President Lou Anna Simon last week, just made another mistake by naming former Gov. John Engler as interim president.

What were they thinking?

Engler, who helped ruin the state’s education system and dismantled its mental health system, shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near this scandal. Not even for a little while.

The politically connected former governor represents the exact opposite of what the university needs now. It needs someone who can’t be seen as having a dog in this fight, who won’t be seen as an obstructionist.

MSU needed an outsider.

Instead, they apparently have chosen an insider.

It is mind-blowingly wrong. It has outraged the campus, including faculty and a Steering Committee, who, according to news reports, said in a statement that "the Board of Trustees seems to have chosen to ignore major stakeholders of the MSU community in their rush to appoint an Interim President... We have issues with both the selection itself and a selection process that used meeting with students, faculty and Deans to give the appearance of consultation."

So first the board ignores 20 years worth of victims. Then it ignores some of its most important stakeholders - students and faculty.

But my disappointment and theirs pales in comparison to that of a victim who matters so much more.

Sister survivor Rachael Denhollander, the first victim to raise a public complaint about convicted sex abuser Larry Nassar, posted on Facebook that she was ”beyond disappointed” to hear about Engler.

She later told the Free Press that she was willing to reserve judgment, but in the Facebook post, she said: “Engler is a deep political insider at MSU. At a time the university desperately needs, and survivors pleaded for, outside accountability and leadership, the board chooses one of the most entrenched insiders."

What else would we expect from board members who refuse to accept responsibility for the mess lying at their feet?

I wish all the MSU trustees had watched Nassar's second sentencing Wednesday from Eaton County on additional sex charges. Perhaps they would have learned something and be moved to do the right thing, which is to Stop. Making. Decisions. And. Go. Away. All they have proven, so far, is that we should heed Carol Lemelin’s message and the lesson.

Come election time, we must pay more attention to candidates who want to be university trustees, who want to be entrusted with the safety of students and the reputation and well-being of our campuses.

We cannot afford to take the election of any leaders for granted. That includes university trustees.

Look what happens when we do.

Contact Rochelle Riley: rriley99@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @rochelleriley. Rochelle will sign copies of her book "The Burden: African Americans and the Enduring Impact of Slavery" at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Michigan State Museum, 409 Circle Drive., East Lansing, MI. For more information, visit here.