Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker is suspended without pay while the university completes an investigation into claims that he sexually harassed a prominent sexual assault awareness speaker after she was hired to address the Spartan team.
Athletic director Alan Haller announced Tucker's interim suspension Sunday night, less than 24 hours after news of the claims against the fourth-year head coach was made public in reports from ESPN and USA Today. Interim university President Teresa Woodruff appeared alongside Haller at a news conference and said she fully supported Haller's decision.
«The university's objective has been and remains focused on conducting a fair, thorough and unbiased investigation and allowing the processes to play out,» Haller said.
Brenda Tracy, who operates a nonprofit company that tries to raise awareness about sexual misconduct, especially among college athletes, told university investigators that Tucker sent her gifts, asked if she would date him if he wasn't married and masturbated while on the phone with her without her consent, according to details reported by USA Today on Sunday. Tucker told investigators he took part in the behavior but that it was consensual.
Haller said longtime Michigan State assistant Harlon Barnett will serve as interim head coach in Tucker's absence. Former Spartan head coach Mark Dantonio is also returning to the team to serve as an associate head coach starting this week. Dantonio retired in February 2020.
Haller said he was first made aware of the complaints in late December, shortly after Tracy filed the claims. Michigan State hired a third-party investigator to decide if Tucker had violated the school's sexual misconduct policy. The investigator finished her
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