Provost Youatt: Statement on reviews of former Dean Strampel, May 1, 2018

I find the descriptions of Strampel’s behavior that continue to come to light shocking and appalling. For all we have accomplished around student success, we have not yet created the kind of environment where our community feels safe and supported. I am so appreciative of those who had the courage to come forward and so sorry that they not only experienced such abuse in the first place, but that they did not feel it was safe to talk about until recently.

More than a year before the national accounts of Nassar came to light, I made a decision to reappoint William Strampel to another term as Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine. We had just completed his five-year review where input about his effectiveness was solicited from on and off campus through an anonymous survey. The results included several accounts of inappropriate remarks and a number of concerns about uncouth and sometimes offensive language during the review period. The concerns raised were taken seriously, and I specifically addressed these in the required post-review conversation. At that point, no complaints had been filed with OIE or MSUPD regarding Strampel’s behavior.

Today, our entire campus community is part of a renewed commitment to make sure that everyone feels empowered to speak up when they need to, and to feel safe in the environment in which they learn and work. We are all working hard to prevent anything like this from ever happening again.

-June Youatt, MSU Provost