In the wake of numerous reports that Bo Schembechler was aware of and yet ignored the sexual abuse perpetrated by former Michigan team doctor, Robert Anderson, against players, students, and even Schembechler's own son, there have been a number of calls from victims and fans for Schembechler's statue to be taken down and his name removed from Schembechler Hall. However, to this point, the University of Michigan administration has given neither apologized for Schembechler's actions nor taken any steps to erase his tainted image and name from their campus and have instead largely refrained from any mention the former coach.
However, that unofficial policy of silence was abruptly changed yesterday when Michigan's AD, Warde Manual, made an appearance on the college sports podcast "From The Chair with Mike Hamilton", where he made following statement about the lessons he learned from Bo Schembechler (quote starts 4:29 into the podcast):
Integrity. His belief in doing things the right way and pushing you to make sure there are no shortcuts. There's no cheating. It's just you having to do the work and then competing against others and seeing if you can have success. That was important to him. That was paramount to what he taught us and how he led us was about that and about character, and that you are a representative of who you are. Always carry yourself with high character and always work hard and do things the right way. I will always have those lessons with me.
Perhaps realizing that he should indirectly acknowledge the elephant in the room, Warde then preceded to admit that Bo (like Warde's own father) had made mistakes... but what little beneficial effect that tepid admission had was quickly snuffed out as, within the same breath, Warde handwaved away any guilt from Bo having enabling a sexual abuser for decades:
We are all fallible. We all make mistakes in life. Nobody's perfect, and neither were either Bo or my dad. But it's that effort to try to do it and recognizing when you fall short that you have to get up and work on doing things the right way again. That's always lived with me my entire life.
Obviously, Ohio State has also had a sexual predator doctor with access to students and authority figures willing to cover-up for him, so we certainly don't have the right to throw stones from our own glass house. Having said that, fans and alumni of both universities should be utterly appalled when their respective administrations not only refuse to condemn those who allowed such terrible crimes to continue for years and years, but also have the audacity to praise those culpable individuals for their integrity and character.
