Nassar Assault Survivors Call For MSU Trustee Dan Kelly To Resign

DETROIT (WWJ) - Calls from Larry Nassar's sexual assault survivors for a Michigan State University Trustee to resign.

Dan Kelly has been on the MSU board of trustees since 2016, but his career includes working as a private attorney for schools and districts at the center of sexual abuse claims.

Three victims of sexual abuse by former MSU and USA Gymnastics doctor Nassar have written to MSU Interim President John Engler saying Kelly has to go.

Calling him "the worst person to lead the University forward from the Larry Nassar scandal," Rachael Denhollander, Lindsey Lemke and Kaylee Lorincz wrote a letter to MSU Interim President John Engler Wednesday calling for Kelly's resignation. In it, they go on to say, "Mr. Kelly built a career defending schools that ignored allegations of sexual assault against children. His tactics included attempting to forcibly publicize the names of anonymous child molestation victims as young as 12."

The letter to Engler references news reports that "Kelly provided legal counsel for Warren Consolidated Schools in sex abuse civil cases. In two prominent cases in the early 2000s – those of former Warren employees James Kerly and Roderick Reese – Kelly first tried to convince the jurors that the abused minors didn't understand the severity of their abusers' actions. He then tried to reveal the identities of the abused minors."

Kelly also reportedly motioned a judge to publicize names of abused minors as young as 12.

On Feb. 13, in a 61-to-4 vote, faculty members at MSU passed a vote of no confidence in the university's Board of Trustees. The vote by the Faculty Senate called for all board members to immediately resign — insisting that they did not listen to them during the scandal, nor did they accept input from faculty and staff in the selection of an interim president.

This comes after Nassar, a former campus sports doctor, was sentenced to two 40 year prison terms — found guilty of sexual assaulting young female patients under the guise of treatment, many when they were teens.

Two trustees Brian Breslin and Mitch Lyons have announced they will not run for reelection.