EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) – After years of withholding documents related to convicted sex offender Larry Nassar, the Michigan State University Board of Trustees voted unanimously Friday to release them.  

Survivors of the disgraced former doctor’s sexual abuse said the decision was overdue.  

The vote clears the path for the university to send more than 6,000 documents to Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.  

“I’m just waiting for the feeling of peace to hit,” Melissa Hudecz, a survivor told Nexstar’s WLNS. “We’re not there yet.” 

A group of women who survived Nassar’s abuse, who have named themselves “Sister Survivors,” have been attending meetings of the Board and demanding action.  

“Our arms were wrapped around each other,” Elizabeth Maurer, another survivor said. “It was a feeling of relief and shock and all these thoughts of what comes next.”

Survivor, Angelina Martinez-McGhee added, “We were really shocked at the unanimous yes. We were not expecting that.”

Friday’s Board meeting was originally scheduled to be in person, but was held virtually. Survivors said that was a disappointment because being present in meetings puts a face to the trauma –and allows others to begin to understand.  

“I think that’s something that when we go home is going to weigh a little heavy on us. I’m happy we got the news that we got today,” Martinez-McGhee said. “But imagine if we could have done that all in the same room, and everyone could have spoken their truth, and we could have had that one piece of justice.” 

While the meeting was virtual two Trustees were on campus in person Friday for the actions. 

“This board has time and time again committed itself to transparency and accountability,” said MSU Board of Trustees Chair Rema Vassar. “And today’s unanimous vote is a unanimous vote for that. That we are going to work together in solidarity to make sure we’re holding the university to its highest ideals”  

Trustee Dennis Denno was the other elected official on campus.  

“I’m proud of the trustees for voting unanimously, for finally doing the right thing,” Denno said. “For bringing some closure,  if we can to the survivors. It was great to see the smiles on their face when we finally did the right thing.”

While the survivors who spoke with Nexstar’s WLNS were thankful both Vassar and Denno were on campus, they expressed concern about the unanimous vote.

“When I heard some of those yeses, it was like are the saying yes because everybody else is saying yes?” said survivor Elizabeth Maurer. “And like somebody kind of begged them to do it? Like that type of thing. That’s my fear.”  

Survivors said even with the vote they will continue to be part of the conversation and push for accountability.  

“If we don’t get the truth, none of what happened to all of us matters,” Hudecz said. “None of the stuff we’ve been through for however many years matters quite as much. It matters, but in terms of going forward, this is the only way.” 

One survivor who was not able to attend the meeting said: “We are happy that the board has finally taken this step to unanimously agree to release the documents that they’ve been hiding for six plus years. We are fully aware that these are just words today and that they haven’t done anything just yet. We look forward to working with them and coming to an agreement on the next steps in this process of releasing the documents in the proper way.” 

While some of the documents related to Nassar were released to Nessel in 2018, she has repeatedly sought additional documents for years. Nessel said she expects the documents will be in her hands in about four weeks.  

Responding to the vote Friday, she said she hopes the new document cache will help answer questions surrounding the case.

“How was it that Larry Nassar was able to commit these crimes over such a long period of time?” said Nessel. “Without anybody at the University knowing about it and without anybody at the university trying to stop him? And I think that the better we’re able to answer those questions, the better we’re going to be able to make sure the university doesn’t behave like that in the future and the safer everyone is going to feel. ”