EAST LANSING, Mich. _ Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis announced his retirement Friday, the same day an explosive ESPN story detailing a number of allegations of sexual assault and violent attacks on women occurred with Spartan football and basketball players.
Hollis had been athletic director since he took over for Ron Mason on Jan. 1, 2008. He began his athletics career as a student manager for Jud Heathcote and is a 1985 MSU alum.
Hollis' resignation also comes days after Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who also was employed by Michigan State, was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison for sexually abusing more than 150 girls and young women, including some MSU athletes.
"Michigan State University is a great institution and its greatest strengths are the people that call themselves Spartans. Many if not all of those Spartans are hurting, especially the courageous survivors of Larry Nassar's abuse," Hollis said Friday. "My heart breaks, my heart breaks thinking about the incomprehensible pain all of them and their families have experienced. Along with many I was brought to tears as I listen to statements. There simply aren't the right words to express our sympathy.
"Our campus and beyond has been attacked by evil, an individual who broke trust and so much more. As a campus community, we must do everything we can to ensure that this never happens again and make sure that any sexual assault never occurs."
ESPN released an in-depth investigative story about two hours after Hollis' announcement, and scrutinized the way both football coach Mark Dantonio and basketball coach Tom Izzo handled allegations of sexual assault against their players.
ESPN's report details incidents involving MSU's football program involving 16 players since Dantonio took over in 2007. Four Spartan football players _ Josh King, Donnie Corley and Demetric Vance in a January 2017 incident, and Auston Robertson in an April 2017 incident _ were dismissed last year and are facing criminal sexual conduct charges.
The ESPN report overlapped a Free Press investigation that began in 2017, which uncovered four more allegations of sexual assault against MSU football players, bringing the total to six cases under Dantonio. Each of the four incidents were investigated by authorities, but no charges were filed. The Free Press investigation found 11 players were accused in the six cases on Dantonio's watch since 2007.
Here are the six incidents:
