LANSING, Mich. — It was a rough first Board of Trustees meeting for new Michigan State University President Samuel Stanley.
He heard from the "wave two" Nassar survivors who are disgusted with how the university is treating them.
In addition to Friday's meeting being the first for President Stanely, it was also the first one since the US Dept. of Education issued that 4.5 million dollar fine. The university says they are committed to change, but people around campus say they're not so sure.
"Like a child forced by a parent to say sorry without comprehension of the phrases meaning...nothing of the university's behavior towards sexual assault survivors changes," said a survivor during the meeting.
Some strong words were hurled at President Stanley and trustees during the public comment portion of the meeting. At the podium were organization members, students, faculty, and survivors, letting the board know they were unhappy. Among the survivors, there was former MSU Gymnast, Nicole Casady and high soccer player Erin Blayer.
"To the general public, MSU is assuring that the remaining Nassar survivors, known as the wave 2 survivors, that it cares deeply about our well being, and is committed to doing whatever is necessary to help in our healing. But in private you are actively trying to dismiss our case," she said in a speech to the board.
Fox 47 caught up with Blayer after public comment. She wants MSU to stop trying to dismiss the more than 100 lawsuits from survivors like her.
"They are dehumanizing us," she said. "They are acting like they don't deserve the same rights as anyone else, even the first wave survivors...and that's really horrible to do."
President Stanley said the university's motion to dismiss the lawsuits is simply a part of the litigation process.
"We are absolutely committed to trying to settle these cases. That is our goal to settle these cases. We've settled 80 already from the 2nd wave and we want to continue work to settle more."
Regardless of the reason why, survivors aren't backing down.
"We're still here and we're still fighting and we will be here for as long as it takes until we get our justice," Blayer said.
Trustee Tebay and trustee Brianna Scott are trying to bridge the gap between the campus community and the trustees, so they are holding a town hall meeting on Monday, Sept. 23 at 3 p.m..
The $500 million dollar settlement with the 'first wave' of Nassar survivors set aside $75 million for future claims. The 'wave two' survivors say that's not enough and they deserve the same compensation the others got.
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