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Penn State Board Says It Will Take ‘Swift, Decisive Action’

November 9, 2011, 1:58 am

Penn State’s Board of Trustees released a statement late Tuesday night signaling a further investigation into the sex-abuse allegations against a former football coach, Jerry Sandusky. The statement says the board is “outraged by the horrifying details contained in the grand-jury report,” and in what could be a prelude to this Friday’s board meeting, the trustees said they wanted “to assure all of you that the board will take swift, decisive action.” The investigation will aim to determine what failures occurred, who is responsible, and what is necessary to prevent similar acts from ever happening again.

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  • missoularedhead

    Forgive me if this shows ignorance, but should not the NCAA do something here, as well? Or are they only concerned with financial transactions that violate their amateur rules? I would think the NCAA might want to, oh, censure Penn State in some way?

  • 12080243

    Is the past Penn State reputation indeed exemplary (excluding the recent accusations/revelations)? Or, is the utter, long-term failures with regard to Sandusky, Paterno, Spanier, et al an indication of secrecy endemic at Penn State that inhibited resolution of other misconduct/problems at Penn State? The same can be asked of the many other universities caught from time to time hiding their misconduct (on and off the football fields).

    We need to know the details of what happened at Penn State. All of them. We need to be concerned with the overall integrity of all universities. We need to open our universities to greater scrutiny and this is a job for faculty. Administrators cannot do it alone and they desperately need our guidance whether they want it or not.

    Chauncey M. DePree, Jr., DBA, Professor, m.depree@usm.edu, School of Accountancy, University of Southern Mississippi

  • greeneyeshade

    Faculty as a rule don’t have the forensic training to do thorough investigations.  Within their disciplines they can be exceptionally good at fleshing out problems–such as research fraud.  B-school faculty with forensic experience may be an exception, but from where I’ve sat for 40 years, faculty have been just as likely to be part of the problem as an answer to it.  Dr. Dupree, the students you’ve taught who now work in either internally independent or outside independent audit groups are far better prepared to review whether the tone at the top is being properly set and that well-written policies are operating effectively.

  • 12080243

    I agree with your comments and would like to add to them. Faculty have their own problems, including failures to take a stand against the misconduct of faculty and administrators. I have witnessed this many times, over several decades, at the University of Southern Mississippi and at other universities in Texas and Georgia. I have witnessed that faculty can be just as corrupt as anyone else when they perceive they have “skin in the game.” (I have provided details in studies that I have cited many times on CHE comments.) But you’ll find a few faculty and administrators who will not allow such behavior as witnessed at Penn State to remain hidden from public scrutiny. My experience also includes that faculty from a variety of disciplines have the expertise to make sophisticated findings of fact and assessments. Let me be quick to add, they are only as good as their intentions. And they are not a court of law. If faculty choose to do the right thing, they have the intelligence to help administrators assess instances like what is coming to light at Penn State.

    A critical mass of faculty at some universities will participate in their schools’ governance whether administrators and their Boards like it or not. Faculty at other universities will cower in face of corrupt administrators and their ally faculty. If the faculty allow corrupt administrators and faculty to prevail, they get what they deserve. They, too, can be proud faculty at a school like Penn State University.

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