Report: Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker investigated for sexual harassment

EAST LANSING, Mich. – Michigan State football coach Mel Tucker was investigated after a woman reported sexual harassment, according to reports.

USA TODAY published a report that shared specific details of the investigation. According to a report, a rape survivor who worked educating athletes about sexual violence reported that Tucker sexually harassed her.

Before the incident, she had developed a professional relationship with Tucker focused on her advocacy work. She had been invited to campus three times — twice to speak to players about sexual violence — and once to be recognized as an honorary captain, according to the report.

According to the report, she said Tucker made sexual comments about her and masturbated during a phone call on April 28, 2022. She filed an official complaint with the university’s Title IX office in December.

“The idea that someone could know me and say they understand my trauma but then re-inflict that trauma on me is so disgusting to me, it’s hard for me to even wrap my mind around it,” she told USA TODAY. “It’s like he sought me out just to betray me.”

According to the report, Tucker acknowledged masturbating on the call in statements to the Title IX investigator.

“Ms. Tracy’s distortion of our mutually consensual and intimate relationship into allegations of sexual exploitation has really affected me,” Tucker wrote in a March 22 letter to the investigator, according to USA TODAY. “I am not proud of my judgment and I am having difficulty forgiving myself for getting into this situation, but I did not engage in misconduct by any definition.”

Michigan State University hired an outside Title IX attorney to investigate the complaint. That investigation was completed in July. A formal hearing to determine whether Tucker violated the school’s policy is scheduled for Oct. 5 and Oct. 6, according to the report.