MSU football coach Mel Tucker suspended without pay amid report of sexual harassment of rape survivor
East Lansing — Michigan State coach Mel Tucker was suspended without pay Sunday following the publication of an investigation into a sexual harassment complaint against him by a prominent rape survivor and activist.
MSU athletic director Alan Haller announced the suspension in a Sunday afternoon news conference. He said secondary coach Harlon Barnett will serve as interim head coach, and Mark Dantonio, Michigan State's former head coach, has been named an associate head coach.
Haller, who said he learned of the complaint in late December and MSU accepted an outside investigator's report on the allegations on July 25, did not disclose what changed since Tucker coached the team Saturday afternoon to prompt the unpaid suspension.
There were “new developments," Haller said. “We’re always evaluating."
The revelations marked a stunning turn for a university that has struggled to overcome complaints that it failed to correct a lax culture toward sexual harassment and assault that contributed to Dr. Larry Nassar sexually assaulting more than 150 patients while he was an osteopathic sports physician at MSU.
MSU interim President Teresa Woodruff argued the measures taken Sunday were proof the university is taking Title IX complaints more seriously, a notion promptly discounted by activists.
“This morning’s news might have sounded like the MSU of old,” Woodruff said. “It was not. It is not because an independent, unbiased investigation is and continues to be conducted.”
Following that statement, The Detroit News reported that for 10 months, MSU kept half of the university's board in the dark about the matter involving Tucker, only revealing it to all after USA Today published a report on the allegations early Sunday morning, hours after Michigan State’s victory over Richmond in the second game of the season. The report said Tucker is alleged to have made sexually suggestive comments during a phone call with the woman, Brenda Tracy, while masturbating during the conversation.
Tracy, who reported being gang raped Oregon State University football players in 1998, has become a nationally known and honored advocate combatting violence and sexual assault on campuses across the country. According to the report, Tracy made multiple visits to Michigan State beginning in 2021, twice to meet with the team and once as honorary captain before the 2022 spring game.
"The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around it," Tracy said in the report. "It's like he sought me out just to betray me."
News attempts to reach Tracy were unsuccessful. Tucker did not return calls for comment. The News has requested copies of the Title IX complaint and investigation but the university did not release them Sunday.
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Tucker, in statements provided to the Title IX investigator, acknowledged that the phone call occurred; however, he claimed it was a consensual encounter, according to the report.
"Ms. Tracy's distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitations has really affected me," Tucker wrote in documents obtained by the newspaper. "I am not proud of my judgment, and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition."
Haller on Sunday said an outside third-party investigator was used to investigate the complaint and submitted their report July 25 with the recommendation of a formal hearing that will take place the week of Oct. 5.
Woodruff said the final investigation has not yet been referred to Haller and the university and would not be until after the hearing in early October.
Haller said interim measures were in place prior to the investigation becoming public Sunday. Those measures included Haller assuming increased oversight of the program and Tucker being barred from contact with the complainant. Those interim measures were escalated on Sunday with the suspension.
Haller took three questions during the press conference. Woodruff took none.
MSU board Chairwoman Rema Vassar said the trustees remain committed to a "thorough investigation of this matter."
"The MSU Board of Trustees has been briefed by the administration on the suspension of Mel Tucker and supports this action," Vassar said in a Sunday statement.
Title IX is a federal law banning sex discrimination in education, which includes sexual harassment and sexual violation. MSU, like many institutions, has an office that reviews, investigates and reaches conclusions regarding complaints violating Title IX.
While Tracy filed a complaint with MSU's Title IX office, the university hired an outside Title IX attorney, Rebecca Leitman Veidlinger of Ann Arbor, to investigate the complaint, according to the USA Today report. The outside lawyer finished her investigation, according to the news report, which means a preliminary report likely has been finished and provided to Tucker and Tracy.
While the complaint went through MSU's Title IX process, the university had the ability to place Tucker on administrative leave, according to university policy. MSU chose to allow Tucker to keep working in his job following the filing of the complaint about 10 months ago.
Austin, Texas-based Title IX attorney Scott Schneider said he has seen employees placed on administrative leave during Title IX investigations dealing with much less serious allegations. Tucker hadn't been suspended until after the USA Today report was published.
"I think when you have an allegation that one of the highest-paid employees, certainly public employees, in the state of Michigan is ... masturbating with someone who has been brought on campus to do sex assault (and) sex harassment-related training, and there's a suggestion that may have engaged in retaliation — those are pretty serious, significant allegations," Schneider said. "It wouldn't surprise me to see somebody placed on even a paid leave pending the outcome resolution of the matter."
A Title IX hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 5-6 during the Michigan State football team’s bye week. The hearing, which is closed to the public, functions as a form of bench trial where witnesses can be called and questioned by both sides in the complaint.
MSU's Office of Institutional Equity will select a separate hearing officer to hear the evidence and decide whether Tucker, based on "the preponderance of the evidence," violated Title IX policy in a written report. If the finding goes against Tucker, the hearing officer would recommend what kind of punishment he should receive, including the possibility of being fired. The finding can be appealed under certain criteria.
Tucker, who is married, signed a 10-year, $95 million contract extension in November 2021.
“Let me assure you that if any complaint came forward regarding a violation of the university’s Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct policy, it would be thoroughly reviewed and followed up on by MSU’s Office for Civil Rights,” Michigan State MSU spokeswoman Emily Guerrant said in a comment provided to ESPN.
“Confidentiality is important to the culture around reporting incidents — it’s crucial in creating a safe environment for individuals to come forward. Our commitment to our campus community and the public is to ensure that every complaint or concern brought forward is taken seriously and, when warranted, that a thorough investigation takes place. When investigations do happen, they need the ability to be conducted in a thorough and confidential manner.”
Tucker’s contract is guaranteed, but a clause allows Michigan State to terminate it without payment if he “engages in any conduct which constitutes moral turpitude or which, in the university’s reasonable judgment, would tend to bring public disrespect, contempt or ridicule” to the school.
"That gives them (MSU), to me, wide berth to separate (from) him just based on what he's already admitted to," Schneider said. "So good on them (MSU) for including that, that's not always in a contract, but I think they've got a pretty strong position."
The investigation involving Tucker and Tracy creates another high-profile crisis for MSU, following one of the nation's largest sexual abuse scandals seven years ago involving the now-incarcerated Nassar.
The Nassar scandal involved accusations of sexual assault by hundreds of mostly female athletes against Nassar while he provided care as an MSU sports and USA Gymnastics physician and resulted in a $500 million settlement by the university with the victims. He was sentenced to 40- to 175 years in prison.
The aftermath of the case involving Nassar, who preyed on young women for decades undetected, resulted in jail time for two MSU officials and a turnover in MSU's presidents.
Five people have served as MSU's president since the Nassar scandal either as an interim or permanent leader, and all but one faced struggles either because of Nassar or issues related to Title IX sexual discrimination complaints. Former President Samuel Stanley resigned in October after the Board of Trustees asked him to leave his post early due to the university's handling of sexual misconduct issues.
Some Nassar survivors have spoken out on social media following the public allegations against Tucker. Rachael Denhollander, the first woman to publicly accuse Nassar, said she stands with Tracy in a post on Twitter.
"Given that MSU never engaged in an honest, transparent and robust assessment and institutional transformation process, this is nothing BUT the 'MSU of old,'" she wrote. "There has been one consistent trajectory at MSU. Obfuscate and wait. Repeatedly refuse transparency and accountability."
Sarah Klein, Nassar's first known victim and an attorney and advocate for other survivors, said that while she could not comment on Tracy's case specifically, she does not trust any internal investigation by the university.
"MSU and its leadership have a long track record of obfuscation, stonewalling ... no one should trust them in any internal investigation, whatsoever, neither here nor there. Period," Klein said.
Woodruff announced in August that she would not seek the MSU presidency permanently. Though she did not explain why, some board members have criticized Woodruff because of the departure of former business school dean Sanjay Gupta, who resigned amid pressure to do so from Woodruff for violating the university's mandatory reporting policies. Gupta, who remains an MSU accounting professor, acknowledged that he failed to report that he had been told a business school leader had gotten intoxicated and acted inappropriately at an end-of-the-year gala.
“After all the sexual misconduct crises Michigan State University has faced over the past seven years, it still lacks the fundamental foundation to protect the members of the University community," said Brad Dizik, executive vice president of Guidepost Solutions, hired in 2020 by University of Michigan to change the culture of sexual misconduct surrounding numerous accused faculty members, including former Provost Martin Philbert.
"Among other things, MSU still doesn’t have a university wide-code of conduct/ethics, stand-alone protection from retaliation policy, supervisor (intimate) relationship policy, or independent central compliance office," Dizik said. "The governor, Michigan attorney general, or Department of Justice should step in to ensure MSU has some level of oversight to confirm that these controls are prioritized and implemented effectively and immediately. "
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Staff Writers Hannah Mackay and Kara Berg contributed.