Michigan State's student section dons teal in support of sexual assault survivors

Instead of wearing school colors to Friday night’s basketball game against Wisconsin, Michigan State students decided to break with tradition.

They traded their green and white for teal as a show of support for sexual assault survivors in the Larry Nassar case.

Leaders of Michigan State’s student section came up with the idea to hold a “Teal Out” Friday because that is the color of sexual assault awareness. They launched a GoFundMe page in hopes of raising money for the shirts and to support charities that support sexual assault survivors.

Donors and shirt companies stepped up to provide 1,500 teal T-shirts, enough for every student in the lower bowl of the Breslin Center. Nearly $6,000 in donations also poured into the GoFundMe page, money that will be divided between the Sexual Assault Crisis Intervention Team of MSU and the Firecracker Foundation.

The gesture from the Michigan State students comes at the end of week in which the university has come under fire for how it responded to complaints about Nassar. The former USA Gymnastics doctor who was also employed by Michigan State sexually abused more than 150 girls and young women, including a number of Spartans athletes.

Michigan State president Lou Anna Simon resigned Wednesday night and athletic director Mark Hollis retired Friday morning. Football coach Mark Dantonio and basketball coach Tom Izzo are also under scrutiny for how they’ve handled sexual assault allegations against players.

– – – – – – –

Jeff Eisenberg is a college basketball writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

Follow @JeffEisenberg