Michigan State suspends employee over Hitler image

Sep 4, 2015; Kalamazoo, MI, USA; General view of Michigan State Spartans helmet on field prior to a game against Western Michigan at Waldo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Carter-USA TODAY Sports

A Michigan State employee has been suspended over the controversial image that was shown on the videoboard at Spartan Stadium Saturday night.

Prior to kickoff of Michigan State’s rivalry game against Michigan, the Spartans showed a photo of Adolf Hitler on their videoboard as part of a trivia game. The question asked where the former Nazi leader was born. You can see the image here.

Michigan State went on to lose 49-0, but it is clear some school administrators were more bothered by the videboard controversy. Associate athletic director Matt Larson released a statement apologizing and attributed the regrettable image to a third-party source.

“We are deeply sorry for the content that was displayed, as this is not representative of our institutional values,” Larson said. “MSU will not be using the third-party source going forward and will implement stronger screening and approval procedures for all videoboard content in the future.”

Michigan State is not placing the blame entirely on a third-party company, however. The Michigan State University Board of Trustees issued a statement of their own on Sunday saying they are “outraged” by the incident. Athletic director Allen Haller also announced on Sunday that a university employee has been suspended.

“Michigan State Athletics is responsible for all content shown on its video boards,” Haller said, via Jared Ramsey of the Detroit Free Press. “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.”

Between the videoboard incident, the drama with former head coach Mel Tucker, and the blowout loss to Michigan, the end of the 2023 season can’t come fast enough for Michigan State.