UPDATE: Simon announced her resignation as president of MSU in a letter posted on the university's website shortly before 9 p.m. Wednesday.

"As tragedies are politicized, blame is inevitable," she said. "As president, it is only natural that I am the focus of this anger.  I understand, and that is why I have limited my personal statements. Throughout my career, I have worked very hard to put Team MSU first.  Throughout my career, I have consistently and persistently spoken and worked on behalf of Team MSU. I have tried to make it not about me. I urge those who have supported my work to understand that I cannot make it about me now.

"Therefore, I am tendering my resignation as president according to the terms of my employment agreement."


Lou Anna Simon will resign from her post as president of Michigan State University in the coming days, campus newspaper The State News reports.

The university's student newspaper says a reliable anonymous source tipped them off. More from The State News story:

“I was told (by a board member) that they (MSU Board of Trustees) were going to meet this week and effectively, would have Lou Anna (Simon) step down by Friday," the source said.

...

“I think the hold up is that they don’t have an interim secured," the source alleged. "There’s been a few names that have been tossed around, but I think they’re trying to figure out who it’s going to be and when they start.”

Simon would be succumbing to mounting pressure amid the Larry Nassar scandal. Nassar was sentenced in an Ingham County courtroom Wednesday to 40 to 175 years in prison. He was already sentenced to 60 years on federal child pornography charges and he faces sentencing on sexual assault convictions in Eaton County next week.

Wednesday afternoon, Dianne Byrum become the second MSU trustee to call for Simon's resignation. Multiple politicians have also for her to step down, including the entirety of the Michigan House of Representatives, which passed a resolution calling for her to resign.

Simon is the 20th president of MSU, having begun serving in that capacity in 2005. Before that, she was MSU's provost and vice president for academic affairs from 1993 to 2005. She has been at MSU since 1974, when she earned her Ph.D. from the university.

Last week, the MSU Board of Trustees emerged from an hours-long closed-door meeting voicing full support of Simon.

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