This is the ninth in a series profiling one of the 86 candidates for the upcoming Board of Trustees election. Penn State alumni may vote online in the race between April 10 and May 3. The three winning candidates will be announced at the May 4 board meeting, and they will assume their new three-year terms on July 1.
In a world where the media has been on the outside peering in, Ryan Bagwell wants to bring a reporter’s perspective through the looking glass.
Now a web developer, Bagwell, a candidate for the Board of Trustees, formerly worked in newspapers after earning his Journalism degree from Penn State. He spent a year seeking the kind of transparency and forcing similar accountability that is being demanded of the current board.
Bagwell said it astounded him that no one spoke up on the fateful evening of Nov. 9, when both former Penn State President Graham Spanier and former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno were fired.
‘No one was standing up and saying, ‘Hey, maybe we should start talking about what we know, and what we did,” he said. ‘It’s second nature to me, that in times like that, you don’t hole up more. You’re supposed to be more honest and open.’
Calling the need to change the bylaws by which the board currently operates a ‘no-brainer,’ he cited specific action he would take – starting with the muzzle on current trustees. Bagwell said the restraints on trustees speaking their mind is ‘really strange,’ because he believes nothing should restrict their independence as board members.
Bagwell said other necessary steps toward transparency include Penn State’s adopting a right-to-know law and making public all records, including those of police investigations as well as internal investigations.
There’s a degree of importance in honoring Paterno, Bagwell said, but he is concerned about that being the sole focus of so many candidates. Long-term, structural changes need to take center stage, and a singular issue can’t rule the election, he said.
‘There are only a handful of candidates that have a plan, with very specific proposals,’ Bagwell said. ‘We need to be careful to elect people, because if we don’t, they aren’t going to know what to do.’
‘My ideas come from my experience.’
The current board, according to Bagwell, also has some serious ethical issues that need attention. He is not in the race to further political aspirations in Pennsylvania, nor is he vying for a position within the university’s administration. Bagwell said those types of conflicts of interest need to be addressed and assessed.
Finally, a firm focus needs to be placed on the educational mission of the university, and how to continue to build that up without doing the same to tuition, too. The issues the board faces moving forward are bigger than what the past few months have wrought, Bagwell said, and he hopes that is something the voters remember when casting their ballots.
‘I watched what happened in November, but my decision to run wasn’t a blind surge of outrage,’ he said. ‘It was that view that a group like that needs my commitment to transparency and ethics.’
Related coverage:
- Penn State Planning Independent Audit of Board of Trustees Election (April 17)
- Penn State Board of Trustees Election: When it Comes to Transparency, the Only Openly Gay Candidate Has Been There Before (April 16)
- Penn State Board of Trustees Election: Running for the Second Time, Professor Seeks Change for the Better, Not Revenge (Mar. 29)
