A state lawmaker who’s led the charge to slash the number of members on the Penn State Board of Trustees is not pleased with the board’s recent decision to increase in size.
In fact, State Senator John Yudichak calls Friday’s vote to increase the board to 36 voting members “frustrating and unfortunate,” motivated by “personal agenda and control, rather than effective governance.”
Yudichak, a Penn State alumnus, drafted a bill in the senate that proposed reducing the board’s size from 30 to 23 voting members. His proposal passed with unanimous support in a vote by the Senate Subcommittee on State Government last June.
In September, a board of trustees committee passed a proposal that would have increased the board to 38 members while removing the voting powers of the governor’s cabinet secretaries.
Yudichak, along with State Senator Jake Corman, asked the board to delay its vote in a letter to board of trustees chairman Keith Masser last Thursday.
Instead, the trustees approved a slightly changed proposal that increased the board’s size to 36 members. Under that modified proposal, the board also that decided to keep the voting power of the governor’s cabinet members intact.
“Senator Corman and I worked diligently to strike a compromise with the board,” Yudichak says. “… Unfortunately, all the conversation we had over last several months was not heard.”
Yudichak worries that the six additional trustees, who will not be elected by alumni, will simply strengthen the existing majority of trustees appointed to represent the governor and industry. Several trustees, including alumni-elect Al Lord, voiced similar concerns at Friday’s board meeting.
Yudichak says his proposal was based on research that shows smaller boards encourage each member to be more active in the decision-making process.
“The chairman of the board and the governance committee clearly had their own ideas, and stuck to the idea that they wanted a larger board so the current majority could control the board regardless of who gets elected,” Yudichak says.
He says there was no deadline or pressing reason that required the board to pass its proposal on Friday. Instead of rushing the decision, Yudichak says that governor-elect Tom Wolf and the legislature should have been involved in further conversation with the board as part of an effort to reach a compromise.
Also at Friday’s meeting, Penn State President Eric Barron said he had discussed the proposal with Wolf and called it “perfectly reasonable” to postpone the vote until after Wolf’s inauguration.
Yudichak says that legal action against the board is possible, but only after a review to determine if its actions have broken or circumvented any state laws. He says litigation is a last resort, and he will continue to work toward a legislative solution with Corman and other members of the senate.
“A lot of people in the general assembly recognize that Penn State is a tremendous asset to our commonwealth,” Yudichak says. “… I feel very strongly that the partnership between the commonwealth and Penn State needs to continue.”
After Friday’s board of trustees meeting, Barron also revealed he will review the Freeh report, which has led to tentative support from some trustees.
Al Lord – who suggested examining the Freeh report in a proposal that was voted down in October – says he “appreciates the gesture,” but is unsure how to feel. He says examining the Freeh Report is “a very substantial task” that may require more time or resources than Barron is able to dedicate.
“It appears at least that he’s trying to bridge a giant gap in the board,” Lord says. “This is recognition that somebody needs to do something with the Freeh report.”
Former FBI Director Louis Freeh compiled the Freeh report at the request of Penn State following the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal. Released in 2012, it concludes that top university officials concealed the Sandusky scandal from the public. The report formed the basis of the NCAA’s sanctions against Penn State, which included a $60 million fine.
Lubrano says he’s glad to see that Barron will review the report, but that doesn’t change his own responsibility to do the same. Lubrano says he’s requested access to the report’s source documents in the past, and plans to request access again in the near future.
Board of trustees chairman Keith Masser and governance committee chairman Keith Eckel did not respond to requests for comment. Representatives for governor-elect Wolf, Senator Corman and Freeh also could not be reached for comment.
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