The Michigan State University Board of Trustees voted to release thousands of documents relating to its handling of the Larry Nassar investigation.
The vote could end a years-long fight between the university and Nassar survivors with the Michigan Attorney General's Office, both of whom have been trying to get the documents.
In July, a group of Nassar survivors and parents sued the university, saying the school refused to give the AG's office more than 6,000 documents for an investigation into how Nassar was allowed to sexually assault hundreds of women and girls.
Nassar was sentenced in 2018 to 40 to 175 years in prison after he admitted to molesting some of the nation's top gymnasts for years under the guise of medical treatment.
The university has been criticized for how it handled the Nassar investigation and its dealings with survivors in the aftermath of his arrest and conviction. The school has settled lawsuits filed by Nassar victims for $500 million
Attorney General Dana Nessel has asked the school to release the more than 6,000 documents to help shine a light on what the school knew about the abuse. She ended her investigation in 2021 of the school's handling of the Nassar case because the university refused to provide documents related to the scandal.
Nessel released this statement shortly after the vote by the board.
“The students, the MSU community at-large, and most importantly, the victims of Larry Nassar have long been owed this transparency. I am encouraged to see the MSU Board of Trustees finally make the right decision on a long-promised, and long-delayed, measure of transparency. We appreciate the opportunity to review these documents and will reopen and expedite our investigation as soon as they are received.”
The resolution passed Friday includes the release of the 6,000 documents that were either partially redacted or fully withheld due to attorney-client and work product privilege, according to the university.
The documents will be redacted first before they are released.
"The University desires to cooperate and provide finality to the matter," the resolution reads.
