January 30, 2018
Partisanship, past failures to protect vulnerable citizens raise real concerns
LANSING — Watchdog group Progress Michigan issued the following response to the appointment of former governor John Engler as interim president of Michigan State University. The statement should be attributed to Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan:
“At a time when MSU needs to be thinking critically about a major cultural shift, this decision is about as thoughtless and backward as they come. Engler is a highly partisan choice considering he’s endorsed Bill Schuette for governor, on top of the fact that Schuette’s office is supposed to be investigating MSU. Engler’s legacy on public education and protecting vulnerable people from sexual abuse is highly troubling – including a refusal to allow the U.S. Department of Justice access to state prisons to investigate violations of the civil rights of female inmates. Engler failed to protect those inmates, how can we expect him to protect members of the MSU community and restore trust in this institution? We are extremely disappointed in this decision, as it continues to show the poor choices of the MSU board of trustees.”
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