Michigan ended its contract with gymnastics consultant Rhonda Faehn on Sunday, just one day after the school's announcement of the former USA Gymnastics coach's hiring sparked controversy and outrage due to her connection with the Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal.
Faehn's role as the head of USA Gymnastics' women's program ended in May. A month later she testified at a U.S. Senate hearing that she was told about Nassar abusing gymnasts by another coach in the summer of 2015. Faehn said she reported the complaint to USA Gymnastics president Steve Penny at the time, but did not report to law enforcement officers or anyone else. Nassar retired from USA Gymnastics months later, but continued to treat patients elsewhere for more than a year before he was eventually arrested and convicted of molesting his patients.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said Saturday in a statement announcing her new role as a coaching consultant for the Wolverines that the school did "exhaustive due diligence" before deciding it was comfortable that Faehn was not culpable for the way she handled the allegations made against Nassar in 2015. Manuel reversed course Sunday evening and ended the school's contract with Faehn.
"It was the wrong decision, and I apologize," Manuel said. "Our student-athletes are our highest priority and I want to do everything in my power to support them fully and put the focus back on their athletic performance."
Michigan's decision to hire Faehn was met by harsh criticism from several outspoken survivors of Nassar's abuse and others in the sport. Three of Michigan's regents -- the top governing body of the university -- told the Detroit Free Press on Sunday they did not support the decision to hire Faehn and believe she needed to be fired. Morgan McCaul, a University of Michigan student and a Nassar survivor, originally called the decision to hire Faehn "laughable." She said Sunday night she was glad to see the school change its mind.
"I am proud of my university for doing what's right," McCaul said Sunday night. "Hiring Rhonda was a slap in the face to the countless young women and girls who were sexually abused by Nassar after she was personally made aware of his misconduct."
However, multiple Michigan gymnasts expressed disappointment Sunday night on social media that Faehn was no longer working with the team. The athletes said they were aware of Faehn's past and thought their voices and desire to have her help as a coach were being ignored due to public backlash.
"Please remember that a few of us on this team were affected by Nassar and if we can stand up and say we are happy to have Rhonda with us, then you can be happy for us," said student assistant coach Polina Shchennikova, who competed with the team up until she medically retired in September. "It's a shame social media has such power and nobody is listening to the athletes yet again. Please reconsider!"
Nassar was allowed to retire from USA Gymnastics in September 2015 without any mention of the allegations against him despite an open FBI investigation into his actions. Nassar was fired from his job as a physician and professor at Michigan State University in September 2016. He assaulted dozens of young women and girls in the year between those two events, according to complaints lodged in civil lawsuits against USA Gymnastics. Faehn told members of Congress that she believed she had fulfilled her mandatory duty to report claims of sexual abuse by telling Penny, who said he would relay the complaints to law enforcement. Penny waited more than a month in the summer of 2015 before informing the FBI about the gymnasts' complaints.
Faehn is the second employee to leave the Michigan women's gymnastics' staff in recent months. Assistant coach Scott Vetere resigned in October after he was cited for public indecency when police found him having sex with a member of the gymnastics team in a parking lot near the university's campus.