GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — After a week of heightening tensions, Michigan State University Trustee Brian Mosallam has officially called for interim president John Engler to resign.
He's the first trustee to call for Engler's resignation.
In an emailed statement received shortly before 8 a.m. Friday, Mosallam wrote, "I no longer believe that John Engler’s presence on this campus will allow Michigan State University to move forward. We need leadership that sets a tone of empathy and compassion towards our courageous survivors, and [re-embraces] them as important members of our Spartan community. John Engler simply can no longer do that."
The call comes after newly-released emails showed the former Michigan governor accused Rachael Denhollander -- the first woman to publicly accuse Larry Nassar of sexual abuse -- of receiving "kickbacks" from attorneys and helping them "manipulate" other plaintiffs in an email exchange with a top aide at the university.
Mosallam was also named in that same email thread for not doing enough to support the interim president. He has been the most vocal trustee to call for positive change on MSU's campus.