KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) — MSU Interim President John Engler says they have tentatively approved a $500-million dollar settlement with the Survivors of Larry Nassar but aren’t sure exactly where the money for the payments will come from, quipping to one reporter that they may have to try to catch a leprechaun.
He made the comment on his way to a closed door meeting with Legislators.
He would apparently have a better chance of finding a leprechaun’s pot of gold than getting the legislature to cough up any money.
Speaker Tom Leonard says MSU has a larger rainy day fund than the State Government, and several other lawmakers were not just opposed but openly hostile to the idea.
Portage Sen. Margaret O’Brien says MSU has a “healthy endowment, they have insurance and I’m sure they can get a loan.” Rep. Pete Lucido would like to go a step further and shield MSU students from having to pay through higher tuition.
It’s still just a tentative deal. The paperwork has not been signed and eventually a judge will have to sign off on it.
Needless to say, it could be a while before the survivors actually see any of the money from the settlement.
Now a few of the MSU survivors are taking Interim President John Engler to task for making a quip about where they are going to find the $500-million for their settlement, saying they may have to “find a leprechaun.”
Survivor Morgan McCaul says she is appalled, that he made light of such a serious subject.
They really don’t like John Engler.
