Michigan State finds itself in a situation that the average sports fan is all too familiar with.  The administration is named in a recent suit claiming the schools counseling department performed their responsibilities inadequately when they failed to encourage an unnamed woman to report a rape suffered at the hands of three basketball players in 2015.  Seemingly gone are the days when network sports, ESPN and college stations focused their reporting on the events and competition of college athletes. Sure, professional athletes have been getting away with murder (sometimes literally) for years, but for some reason, scandal feels a little ickier when college athletics become the source for such devious behavior.  

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Since 2011, major scandals have rocked high profile institutions.  A booster claimed to have been paying Miami Hurricane football players for years.  Jerry Sandusky tarnished the reputation of, arguably, the most recognizable coach in college football history by sexually abusing children.  The University of North Carolina became synonymous with academic fraud. Louisville basketball, Baylor football and now the entire Athletic Department for Michigan State, thanks to Larry Nassar, have experienced sexual misconduct investigations.  Add that to this year’s NCAA crown jewel, March Madness, possibly being overshadowed for years by an FBI investigation that could leave some of its most prestigious programs facing serious disciplinary action for recruiting violations.

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Those are merely the most high profile and deep set investigations though.  Hardly anyone remembers that Cam Newton left Florida in disgrace after stealing computers or that Jameis Winston won the Heisman Trophy and National Championship during an ongoing rape investigation.  This begs the question of what the primary function of a collegiate institution really is. Professionals get paid to win games so while the public may not like a players lifestyle, if the player helps their team win, the most moral issues can be overlooked rather easily.  The collegiate scandals run much more personal, though. Sports fans expect a little more honesty and cleanliness from college sports. Surely the corruption cannot be so rampant when amateur athletes, many still teenagers, are competing at the purest levels. Everyone makes mistakes but when the cover-ups and conspiracies begin to see the light, public patience begins to wane.  

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So the Michigan State Spartans find themselves the latest program to go on the defensive.  Larry Nasser was a debacle of epic proportions that led to the resignations of virtually the entire Michigan State Athletic Department.  Why is winning so important? Why is maintaining reputation a higher priority than finding justice? The facts remain that athletes get a pass more often than not simply because their skillset is more important than the rights of other students.  Think about that for one second. Students who are costing their universities hundreds of thousands of dollars in athletic scholarships and legal fees are put on higher pedestals than the ones giving hundreds of thousands of dollars in tuition. Larry Nasser was a huge deal, but Michigan State knows they just have to weather the storm until the next big scandal breaks.