Pat Caputo - Big block “S” at MSU stands for “S”hame

The big block “S” at Michigan State University stands for shame.

Shame for how the school became an enabler for a sexual deviant, Larry Nassar.

Shame for its absence of institutional control and oversight.

Shame for an utter lack of accepting responsibility and providing transparency.

Michigan State University forgot it is a public institution of academic higher learning, that its top priority is educating students, providing safety on its campus and setting an example for those associated with it about proper conduct and strength of character.

The latest domino to fall was athletic director Mark Hollis, who resigned Friday. He was a popular and successful athletic director with the exception of an insurmountable flaw: He apparently was so busy marketing and concentrating on revenue sports, he had no idea the shocking abuse Nassar, under the guise of being a doctor, was inflicting on student athletes in the women’s gymnastics program for years. And, according to an ESPN report, he was not sufficiently responsive to an alarming number of reported sexual abuse incidents involving the MSU football and basketball programs.

Lou Anna K. Simon had, finally, resigned as MSU’s president earlier this week, albeit into the lap of luxury, which still allows her to be the big person on campus.

Football tickets, basketball tickets, parking passes, a paid year of leave at $750,000 for “research.” Then becoming the highest-paid member of the faculty, along with a secretary and an office.

Really? It’s still unclear what Simon knew and when, but at minimum she should be stripped of her contractual benefits. If a serial sexual predator, employed in the school’s medical department as a doctor, widely involved with MSU athletes, was given essentially free rein on campus under her watch isn’t a breach of contract, what exactly is?

Then there is Joel Ferguson. Talk about elections having consequences. For three decades, he’s been voted in as a member of the MSU Board of Trustees. The appalling statements he made on a Lansing radio station this week were of no surprise to anybody, though, familiar with Ferguson. He began with lying about what transpired at a recent Board meeting, and strongly asserted raising funds for athletics is much more important than institutional oversight from MSU’s president. Ferguson then mocked the NCAA to the point of almost daring it to open an investigation into MSU, suggesting the Big Block “S” on his chest stands for stupidity.

Hey, guess what, the NCAA then announced it is opening an investigation into MSU.

Ferguson has been a problem for a long time. But conflict with him would be painful, so those in power at MSU just haven’t addressed it. Some would say it’s been out of fear. Others, I feel more accurately as an MSU alum, would refer to it as gutless. You make the call on such semantics.

But can we agree the chickens have come home to roost on Joel Ferguson? Somehow, some way, he has to go, right?

We’ll see if the Big Block “S” still stands for spineless, too.

We’ll also find out more about Tom Izzo, the legendary Hall of Fame basketball coach. His comments last week supporting Simon were unfortunate. Personal loyalty is generally a good thing, but in this case it had obviously gone into another realm. Izzo should have realized it.

Everything Izzo has accomplished has been because of MSU, but now he has lost his two biggest allies in Simon and Hollis. Will he cut and run, leaving behind the carnage? Or will he stay and lead the healing process, minus hopefully, his incessant whining?

Also, a recent report by ESPN described at minimum, questionable behavior, by some of Izzo’s former players. Stay tuned. He might have to be held accountable, too.

It’s the same with football coach Mark Dantonio, whose program has been soiled by unfortunate scandal of its own, which could be even deeper than anticipated, according to the ESPN report.

On top of it all, it took dozens and dozens of women, explaining in graphic detail, how they were abused by Nassar in open court, before there was genuine public outrage.

It wasn’t new information to those in power at MSU by that point. Yet, they were still trying to sweep it under the rug.

And please, don’t dare suggest MSU is victim of Larry Nassar. The girls and women he abused were.

Michigan State University was his enabler. So now the Big Block “S” at MSU stands for “Steep.”

As in the price that must be paid, legally, financially, in every way.