Michigan State University Asked the Worst Possible Trivia Question Before Saturday’s Football Game

Michigan State University’s football team is off to a rough start this year. Not only is the team 2-5 so far this season, including a 49-0 drubbing by its rival Michigan on Saturday, but the school fired its coach early on in the season.

Mel Tucker, who has almost $79 million remaining on his contract, was formally fired by the school on Sept. 27, 2023. Tucker had been suspended since Sept. 10 while he was under investigation for a sexual misconduct complaint that was brought against him by Brenda Tracy, who ironically is a sexual assault awareness speaker.

So what does a reeling football team dripping in controversy, irony, and bad timing do to redeem itself? Well, two weeks after a murderous attack on Israel and the very day that a Detroit synagogue president, Samantha Woll, was found stabbed to death outside of her home, it allowed a trivia question about Hitler’s birthplace along with a huge image of him to appear on the stadium’s mega-sized video board.

Michigan State apologizes for Adolf Hitler image on Spartan Stadium scoreboard https://t.co/oFd2X41mMY via @collegefix

— The College Fix (@CollegeFix) October 23, 2023

The trivia question and the image came from a third-party source, but that hardly gives the university a pass. The school is responsible for everything that appears on that board within its stadium, a fact that Michigan State Athletic Director Alan Haller understands:

I am deeply sorry for the offensive image we displayed on the Spartan Stadium video boards Saturday night. I apologize for the pain it has caused our community. Ultimately, it is my responsibility to make sure all those who interact with Spartan Athletics feel safe, valued, and respected.

The image was harmful to our communities, especially our Jewish community, which is currently experiencing a rise in antisemitism, including acts of violence.

Michigan State Athletics is responsible for all content shown on its video boards. Before it was displayed, the video was not viewed in its entirety by anyone in athletics, exposing a failure in our process. The video was not part of a sponsorship and had no affiliation with any of our corporate partners or our community.

An initial assessment was conducted, and an involved employee has been identified and suspended with pay pending the results of an investigation. The investigation will determine any future appropriate actions.

Looking forward, Michigan State Athletics will ensure greater oversight and processes surrounding any material displayed in relation to one of our athletics events. We are committed to ensuring this never happens again and to better demonstrating the inclusive community that we are.

I will be reaching out to local groups within the Jewish community as well as other student leadership groups on campus and within our department, each of whom has been impacted in their own way. It’s important they hear directly from me regarding our failed responsibilities as well as our promise to do better. It’s equally imperative that they are provided the opportunity to be heard.

Antisemitism must be denounced. The image displayed prior to Saturday night’s game is not representative of who we are and the culture we embody. Nevertheless, we must own our failures and accept responsibility. I understand our response might be met with skepticism. That skepticism is warranted, and we will do all that is necessary to earn back your trust.

In my opinion, that is one of the more heartfelt apologies that I have heard in years. I honestly believe that the university knows that it made a horrible mistake in not screening everything properly. As Haller stated, “An initial assessment was conducted, and an involved employee has been identified and suspended with pay pending the results of an investigation. The investigation will determine any future appropriate actions.”

I think we can all agree that this never should have occurred. It’s an oversight that brought up horrible memories for many people. The difference is that the university didn’t try to “juke and jive” responsibility. It knew it was wrong and admitted it. In today’s society, that act of contrition is extremely rare. Going forward, I’m willing to take Michigan State at its word. I do believe that the staff will tighten up its systems and that nothing like this will happen again.

I’m not defending the university. It was a painful mistake, but it wasn’t done maliciously. It WAS a mistake. Haller apologized and acted quickly to correct the wrong.

There are many real villains out there; let’s focus on them and be willing to forgive those who were careless, learned a lesson, and truly didn’t mean any harm.