PSU trustees criticize Paterno response

Associated Press

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

Penn State trustees say they decided to oust Joe Paterno in part because the football coach didn’t meet a moral obligation to do more to alert authorities about a child sex abuse allegation against a retired assistant coach.

Trustees interviewed Thursday by The Associated Press also cited statements from Paterno in the days and hours leading to his dismissal Nov. 9 — after nearly a half-century of leading the Nittany Lions — that they felt challenged the Board of Trustees’ authority. Board members saw that as inappropriate, particularly at a time of intense scrutiny over the case of former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

Sandusky was charged with dozens of child sex abuse counts four days before Paterno was pushed out. The head coach had testified before a state grand jury about a 2002 allegation against Sandusky that was passed on to him by a graduate assistant.

A day after the graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, came to see him, Paterno relayed the accusations to his superiors, one of whom oversaw campus police. Board members didn’t think that was enough.

“There’s an obligation, a moral responsibility, for all adults to watch out for children, either your own or someone else,” trustee Mark Dambly said. “It was in our opinion that Joe Paterno did not meet his moral obligation and for that reason — me, personally for that reason, I felt he could no longer lead the university and it was unanimous.”

But Dambly and three other trustees interviewed Thursday on the Penn State campus said they still intended to honor Paterno’s accomplishments and contributions to the school. He won a Division I record 409 games over 46 seasons and the Paterno family has donated millions of dollars to the school.

“Obviously Joe Paterno is a worldwide icon and has done a tremendous amount for the university,” trustee Joel Myers said. “We have sorrow and all kinds of emotions, empathy, sympathy for what has occurred. That’s universal.

“But the university, this institution is greater than one person.”

The trustees spoke out ahead of Friday’s board meeting, their first gathering since November and the frantic week after criminal charges were filed against Sandusky, once heralded as the architect for the storied program’s “Linebacker U.” defense.

The trustees described the long deliberations in the days leading up to Paterno’s ouster as emotional and nerve wracking, echoing the confusion and anguish also felt among students and alumni as the scandal unfolded.