Michigan State University Trustees and Interim President John Engler tried to reassure the campus community today that they are working to improve how sexual assaults are handled. A protest group made up of students, faculty and staff wasn’t satisfied.
The group calls itself Reclaim MSU. Several members spoke during the public comment portion of the Trustees meeting, but when public comment ended, Natalie Rogers, a sophomore from Canton, stepped in front of the board and read a statement while others handed out flyers. "The current administration's attitudes and inactions towards discrimination, harassment and sexual violence on our campus," Rogers said, "are unacceptable."
The Reclaim MSU statement condemns what they see as “the lack of functional institutions to investigate instances of sexual misconduct, prevent sexual assault, and support the survivors.”
After the meeting, Interim President John Engler briefly responded that "this is a university. Everybody has the right to protest."
Earlier, an unidentified audience member disrupted the meeting, loudly calling on Engler and the Trustees to resign. None has done so, but Trustees Brian Breslin and Mitch Lyons are not running for re-election this year.
