Mel Tucker Sexually Harrassed Rape Survivor, MSU Probe Finds: Report

EAST LANSING, MI — Mel Tucker, the embattled football coach fired last month from a multimillion-dollar Michigan State contract, violated the university’s sexual harassment policy, USA Today reported Wednesday.

A hearing officer found Tucker had harassed and exploited activist and rape survivor Brenda Tracy, according to the newspaper.

Tracy was hired in 2021 to educate the team about sexual misconduct and the following year she alleged a Title IX violation, Director of Athletics Alan Haller has said.

Tucker admitted to commenting on Tracy’s body, making flirtatious statements and what he described as consensual phone sex during which he masturbated and used explicit language, according to Haller. Tucker was terminated due to moral turpitude and bringing contempt and ridicule to the school in breach of a 10-year, $95 million contract.

Wednesday’s findings detail unwanted advances and quid pro quo, USA Today reported, adding the investigator determined Tucker’s account of a consensual romantic relationship was less plausible, consistent and evidentiarily supported than Tracy’s telling of what happened.

"My first reaction was tears of relief," Tracy told the newspaper, with which she shared the officer's 73-page report.

Tucker, who could not be reached by USA Today for comment, has 10 business days to appeal the finding and is expected to sue the school, according to the newspaper, which reported he could face a campus ban, restricted access and victim restitution.

“The university does not comment each time a step in the case process is completed,” the school said Wednesday in a prepared statement. “Consistent with that practice and to protect the integrity of the ongoing case, the university will not be commenting. It’s important to point out that a resolution officer’s decision does not conclude the Title IX and RVSM case process.”