John Engler has resigned as Michigan State University's interim president, nearly one year after taking the job. Engler sent his letter of resignation to Board of Trustees chair Dianne Byrum Thursday evening.
"This evening I received a letter of resignation from John Engler and this will be discussed and acted upon at the BOT meeting tomorrow morning," Byrum said on Twitter.
Engler's resignation comes just hours before the board was prepared to fire him at a last-minute meeting Thursday morning. Byrum called for the meeting today, after comments Engler made to the Detroit News Editorial Board last week about Nassar survivors "enjoying" the "spotlight" began drawing national criticism.
Learn more: Believed, the podcast from Michigan Radio and NPR, looks at how a team of women brought down Larry Nassar
These most recent comments are far from the first time Engler has drawn criticism in regards to the Nassar scandal. Survivors have been calling for his resignation for months, and many were outraged when he was appointed after the resignation of former president Lou Ann Simon.
In April, Engler was accused of offering Nassar survivor Kaylee Lorincz $250,000 to drop her lawsuit against the school. That same month, he sent an email in which he said survivor Rachel Denhollander was likely receiving a “kickback” from lawyers.
Many survivors took to Twitter to cheer the news of Engler's resignation.
See ya, don’t let the door hit you on the way out👋🏻 @MSUPresEngler https://t.co/174GzGDuwj
— Kaylee Lorincz (@KayleeLorincz) January 16, 2019
ReclaimMSU, a group of students, faculty, staff and alumni, tweeted a thread celebrating the news.
The anticipated departure of interim president @MSUPresEngler is another big step forward for the healing of MSU. In this thread, a moment of gratitude and 💙💙💙.
— ReclaimMSU (@ReclaimMSU) January 16, 2019
MSU board member Brian Mosallam tweeted early Wednesday, "JOHN ENGLER'S REIGN OF TERROR IS OVER."
The board is expected to announce their choice for a new interim president Thursday.
