A group that’s pushed for reform of the Penn State Board of Trustees says all NCAA sanctions against Penn State’s football program are unwarranted and should be lifted.
Penn Staters for Responsible Stewardship (PS4RS) – a group that recently helped elect trustees Alice Pope, Albert Lord and Robert Jubelirer – issued a statement Monday afternoon just after the NCAA lifted a ban on bowl games and scholarship limitations for the Penn State football program.
“We are very happy that some of the sanctions have been rescinded. This is great news for the football team, and the entire unfairly punished Penn State community,” the group says. “However, there are still wrongs to be righted. … We are disheartened by false rationalizations that Penn State has somehow changed or atoned to deserve this ‘reward.’ Penn State athletics programs have always demonstrated the highest level of integrity.”
The bowl ban and scholarship limitations were part of unprecedented sanctions the NCAA leveled against Penn State’s football program following the indictment of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky, who is now a convicted pedophile.
Sanctions originally included a reduction in football scholarships, a four-year ban on bowl appearances, and the vacating of 111 wins under former head coach Joe Paterno. The university must also pay a $60 million fine, which the NCAA says will be used for child abuse awareness and prevention.
After Sandusky’s indictment on allegations of child sexual abuse and after the revelation that some of Sandusky’s crimes occurred on Penn State’s campus, the university hired Louis Freeh, former FBI director, to investigate the scandal. The subsequent Freeh Report found significant wrongdoing on the part of the university.
Authorities also criminally charged former Penn State President Graham Spanier, former Athletic Director Tim Curley and former Senior Vice President for Finance Gary Schultz for allegedly covering up the Sandusky abuse. All three men have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial.
In Monday’s statement, PS4RS says statements made publicly by Chief Deputy Attorney General Frank Fina, who was lead prosecutor in the grand jury investigation, indicate “there is no basis for any of the sanctions and they must be entirely rescinded.”
Fina said about a year ago in a 60 Minutes interview that Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, who the university fired and later died of lung cancer, was not part of the alleged conspiracy with Spanier, Curley and Schultz. However, Fina maintained the three former administrators did commit a crime.
Spanier, Curley and Schultz face a number of charges including perjury, failing to report child endangerment and conspiracy.
Sandusky is serving 30 to 60 years in state prison. In 2012, a jury found him guilty on 45 counts of sexually abusing 10 boys over a 15-year period.
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