the university should end its 
relationship with her,” Regent 
Mark Bernstein told the Free 
Press earlier in the day.
Regent Jordan Acker, who 
was 
elected 
to 
the 
board 
this November, provided the 
following statement on Twitter 
expressing his criticism of the 
selection of Faehn:
Morgan McCaul, an LSA 
sophomore 
and 
survivor 
of 
Nassar’s abuse, spoke to The 
Daily on Sunday evening about 
the importance of the message 
sent by the Athletic Department 
when it acted swiftly in reversing 
its decision on Faehn.
“Honestly, it’s been relieving 
and it’s been kind of whiplash,” 
McCaul said. “My experience 
with MSU has been that they 
dig their heels in and they refuse 
to admit when they’re wrong, 
and it’s taken a year and a half 

to see even a shred of change 
on that campus, so such a quick 
turnaround as to this situation 
has been unexpected and well-
received by myself and many 
other women I know.”
Since the moment the hire was 
announced, the decision spurred 
controversy, drawing both wide 
criticism on Twitter — including 
from Nassar survivors — as well 
as defense of the hiring decision 
from others, including current 
and former members of the 
gymnastics team.
Faehn was first spotted at 
the women’s gymnastics team’s 
second meet of the season, hosted 
at the University of Alabama, 
by Terrin Waack, a sports 
reporter for The Tuscaloosa 
News 
and 
TideSports.com, 
who was present at the meet 
in Tuscaloosa, Ala. On Friday 
evening, a spokesperson for the 
team confirmed to The Daily that 
Faehn had been hired on Jan 10. 
“I can confirm that Rhonda 
Faehn did join us recently 

and was with us tonight in 
Tuscaloosa for the meet,” the 
spokesperson said in a statement 
Friday evening.
Saturday 
afternoon, 
the 
University of Michigan Athletics 
Department 
issued 
a 
press 
release formally announcing and 
defending the hiring decision. 
The statement described Faehn’s 
role on staff as a “consultant in a 
coaching capacity”, though the 
Department website officially 
listed her title as an “assistant 
coach.” Faehn’s name has since 
been removed from the website.
In 
Saturday’s 
release, 
the 
University’s 
Director 
of 
Athletics Warde Manuel noted 
that “a thorough review of 
Faehn’s coaching career and 
her 
involvement 
with 
USA 
Gymnastics” 
was 
conducted 
before he decided to support the 
selection of Faehn.
“The well-being and safety 
of 
our 
student-athletes 
is 
always our highest priority,” 
Manuel stated Saturday. “Our 
current 
student-athletes 
had a prominent voice 
throughout 
this 
search 
process to provide their 
perspective. This included 
a meeting between me and 
the captains before a final 
decision was made.
“After our exhaustive 
due 
diligence, 
we 
felt 
comfortable 
that 
coach 
Faehn 
reported 
all 
information available to 
her regarding Larry Nassar 
and that she cooperated 
fully, including voluntarily 
participating 
in 
all 
investigations and offering 
testimony before Congress. 
Neither 
an 
internal 
investigation 
by 
USA 
Gymnastics or a criminal 
investigation by the FBI 
have assigned culpability 
or resulted in any charges 
against her.”
A 
day 
later, 
Manuel determined it was 
the “wrong decision.”
The addition of Faehn 
to the coaching staff was 
received as a controversial 
decision due to the nature 

of her departure from USA 
Gymnastics, which occurred in 
May 2018.
“I was extremely disturbed to 
find out that she had been hired, 
because I think it sends a message 
not just to survivors of Nassar’s 
abuse on campus, but it sends a 
message to all survivors on the 
campus that proven enablers 
would have been tolerated and 
would have been allowed to be 
hired and honestly be defended 
by the university,” McCaul said.
Early on in her position with 
USA Gymnastics, Faehn was 
notified about potential abuse 
concerns relating to then-team 
physician Larry Nassar. Faehn 
informed then-USA Gymnastics 
President Steve Penny of these 
concerns, and the organization 
went on to conduct an internal 
investigation before removing 
Nassar from his position or 
going to federal authorities, as 
was reported by the Associated 
Press in May.
USA Gymnastics failed to 
notify Michigan State University 
— where Nassar was a faculty 
member — of these concerns 
during this time frame. In the 
aftermath of Nassar pleading 
guilty to child pornography 
charges in the summer of 2017 
and to multiple counts of sexual 
assault of minors in the winter 
of 2018, the organization faced 
multiple lawsuits from victims.
Faehn was not specifically 
named in the lawsuits, but 
faced criticism from numerous 
Nassar survivors who called for 
her removal. This included U.S. 
Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, 
who 
told 
the 
Indianapolis 
Star that she had reported 
Nassar’s abuse to Faehn in 
“graphic 
detail,” 
but 
Faehn 
and other officials waited a 
week before going to the FBI. A 
week after that interview, USA 
Gymnastics decided to part with 
Faehn. 
Her 
departure 
was 
met 
with mixed opinions from the 
gymnastics community.

BR A ZILIAN ZOUK DANCE

2A — Monday, January 14, 2019
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News

CAMERON HUNT/Daily
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