Back to the Michigan State Spartans Newsfeed

Former MSU counselor says Mark Dantonio, Tom Izzo, everyone must 'accept individual responsibility'

A former Michigan State sexual assault counselor who criticized how the MSU athletic department and football coach Mark Dantonio have handled sexual assault allegations involving athletes is pushing back against Dantonio's characterizations that her assertions are "completely false."

Lauren Allswede, who left the university in 2015 over frustrations about how administrators handled sexual assault cases, told Outside the Lines in a story that published Friday that MSU administrators' entire approach to such cases has been misguided for years, especially in cases involving athletes.

"Whatever protocol or policy was in place, whatever frontline staff might normally be involved in response or investigation, it all got kind of swept away and it was handled more by administration [and] athletic department officials," Allswede, who worked at MSU for seven years, told Outside the Lines.