MSU AD on why school waited to take action on Brenda Tracy's sexual harassment allegations against Mel Tucker: "Initially, there were no contact"

Following the accusations made by activist and registered nurse Brenda Tracy on Mel Tucker, Michigan State Spartans Athletic Director Alan Haller held an emergency press conference on Sunday evening as the news became public in a USA Today report.

During the conference, Haller announced that the program has decided to suspend Mel Tucker without pay amidst the ongoing investigation. Defensive coordinator Harlon Barnett is going to take over as the interim head coach, while former Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio returns as the associate HC.

Brenda Tracy, a prominent rape survivor, filed a complaint against Mel Tucker back in December last year and stated that Tucker masturbated while on a call with her. Both Brenda Tracy and Mel Tucker developed professional relationships with each other over the years after initially meeting in 2021.

This led to a Title IX investigation being carried out by the university, which ended in July. The official hearing of the matter will be held in October next month.

During the press conference, a reporter questioned Allen Haller about what led to the program taking action against Mel Tucker in the present scenario despite the complaint being filed last year and with the investigation being launched.

The athletic director clarified that interim measures already began during the filing of the complaint and have been updated with the passage of time.

"We're always evaluating." Haller said, "Interim measures were in place. And those interim measures have been updated. Initially, there were no contact with the complainant. And then also increased oversight from me, the program but then also the coach. So, it's an ongoing process, and we update those interim measures as we receive information"

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Who is Brenda Tracy?

Brenda Tracy is a mother and a registered nurse who survived a horrific gang rape incident back in 1998. There were four men involved in the incident, out of which two were football players for Oregon State. The other two were a junior college recruit and a high school recruit, as per sources.

Tracy then filed a complaint with the police the following day, which led to the arrest of these four individuals. However, she received a lot of backlash and threats to her life because of it. Fearing for her life, she decided not to testify against these people in court.

Her story came to light in 2014 when she contacted college football insider John Canzano. Ever since she has been working as an advocate to teach and educate college football players about sexual violence.

Tracy visited the Michigan State campus three times between 2021 and 2022. Her first two visits were for spreading awareness, and her third visit was when she was named the honorary captain of the team during their 2022 spring games.

That is how she and Mel Tucker met each other and developed a professional bond with each other. Now, if Tucker is found guilty of the allegations against him, then it may tarnish his reputation and end his tenure with the Spartans despite singing a massive 10-year, $95 million contract extension in 2021.