EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — Now that Michigan State University football coach Mel Tucker has been suspended due to sexual harassment allegations, the community is reacting.
“It’s one of those things that’s shocking, but unfortunately not that surprising, to find out how people with positions in power can misuse that position,” said Lauren Allswede, therapist and owner of North Star Wellness Center.
Allswede worked as a sexual violence counselor at MSU for eight years. She says she’s seen the way MSU handles sexual harassment allegations.
“It reflects an overall avoidance or neglect of the severity of the allegations — that business will be business and that issues of misconduct can be swept under the rug,” Allswede said.
When considering the power dynamic between Tucker and Brenda Tracy, it brings up more questions.
“Mr. Tucker, obviously, he is in a very influential and prestigious position. And that alone, in that power dynamic, and the access to resources, and given this assumed credibility that Miss Tracy is not given, it’s very easy to misuse the power,” Allswede said.
Allswede says it’s important to remember that you can’t process what’s happening to you while it’s happening — the processing begins after.
“Freeze and just getting the situation over with as fast as possible is the most strategic and the most effective, and just instinctive, automatic process we have. So she didn’t hang up, because also that might escalate things and make it worse for her too,” Allswede said.
Allswede says the next question becomes, “to what end?”
“Somebody like Mel Tucker doesn’t exist unless there’s an institution that already enables his behavior. And so while we could get rid of Mel Tucker, and after all those years we eventually did get rid of Larry Nassar, there’s gonna be the next one, and the next one, and the next one, until it’s really dealt with at the core,” Allswede said.
“And again, it comes down to the fundamental values conflict of which is more important to MSU: athletics or safety,” she continued.
