Penn State Commonwealth Campuses Closing

Any time I write about Penn State I feel a need to explain my connection to the University.  So here goes:

I have two degrees from Penn State.  I am a life member of the Alumni Association.  I served on the Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society board.  I helped fund a Penn State scholarship.  Penn State will be a beneficiary of my estate.  In fact, I've contributed more to Penn State over the years than I have any other organization.  

The above out of the way, Penn State is making news these days regarding decisions that will be made soon about closing some of the Commonwealth Campuses.  For the uninitiated, "Commonwealth Campuses" is the Penn State euphemism for anything outside of State College, PA. Here's the official press release from the University's President:

https://www.psu.edu/news/administration/story/message-president-bendapudi-commonwealth-campuses

Personally important to me in the announcement is the following:

"To provide clarity, I want to affirm that our seven largest Commonwealth Campuses – Abington, Altoona, Behrend, Berks, Brandywine, Harrisburg, and Lehigh Valley – along with our graduate education-focused campus at Great Valley, will remain open and we will continue to invest in them." 

All of this is tied, however, to a larger question about the very role of the Commonwealth Campuses.  To understand this, you need to first realize something about Penn State's unwritten culture, namely that the Commonwealth Campuses have, throughout their existence, been viewed as a kind of second-class citizenry within the larger world of the university.  In fact, for many inside of the State College world, their existence is barely acknowledged.  On more than one occasion, I've mentioned to someone that my bachelor's degree is from Penn State Harrisburg, which inevitably elicited the following response:  "Oh, is that one of the satellite campuses?  Where is that?  I didn't know you could get a bachelor's degree there.".  Note the "Where is that?" comment, as apparently Pennsylvania Geography isn't a popular course in State College.  

How can I say the above?  What gives me the right?

See my disclaimer, above.  I've also had this discussion with Penn State staff many times over the years.  I've shared my opinion with university leaders at every opportunity.  What I'm noting is less of an opinion and more of a fact, all be it one that some in State College (and those who "just" attended State College) would just as soon not share in public.  The Commonwealth Campuses have existed basically just as a way to funnel those not as well-heeled students to State College at the start of their junior year (a.k.a., those who were unable to gain entrance to State College for their freshman year).  At best, many simply view them as this...

...meaning that they have no identity other than being a step stool.  A kind of Penn State version of baseball’s minor leagues*, without the colorful mascots and team logos.  That's been a conscious choice on the part of Penn State leadership for decades, both at the campuses themselves as well as in State College.  Penn State Harrisburg is (apparently) surviving in part because of its separate identity outside of the State College bubble, and its reputation in South Central Pennsylvania.  That same notion of having a separate identity also applies to the Law School, Medical School and Penn College of Technology.  

I will note that the university has invested in the physical locations of many Commonwealth Campuses.  But the physical plant does nothing to change the culture of an institution, and in the world of Penn State, that culture is squarely State College-centric.  With an ever-increasing use of virtual university options, including Penn State World Campus, it's pretty clear that buildings alone are less important to the university's story.

So, is the present state, with pending closures, inevitable?

I think the answer to the above question is a solid yes and no.  

Yes, in the sense that the university may have over-extended the Commonwealth Campus system.  Some of the campuses are just too close to each other, and as noted above, the Penn State World Campus clearly now takes students out of the traditional Penn State hierarchy.  40+ years ago I don't think anyone could have seen how higher education has changed in the Unites States as a whole.

No, in the sense that the university has never really made the Commonwealth Campuses an important part of the Penn State identity, let alone part of the university experience (in essence, what it means to be a Penn Stater).  See the stepstool graphic.  And again, this has been a conscious choice.  For much of the State College leadership, everything outside of Happy Valley is a footnote of sorts to the Penn State story.  When the only important things happening are in State College, then it's not shocking that some other campuses may just fade away.

In the end, crocodile tears will be shed by those physically (and for many alumni mentally) in State College, but then they will likely cheer for the additional resources available to, in their eyes, "the real" Penn State.  For the rest of us invested in Penn State outside of the State College bubble, this will be a sad time, reinforcing a status we've all known has existed for a very long time.

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(*) I would be willing to bet my last dime that there are some Penn State graduates that have heard this news and reacted with a solid expression of "So what?".  That, more so than anything I've written in this posting, proves my point about Penn State’s unwritten culture and the Commonwealth Campuses’ place in the university’s hierarchy.

Tom Homan vs. the United States Constitution

Apparently the "Border Czar" under the current administration is very upset at New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for actually informing fellow human beings about their legal rights.  Citation here:

https://thehill.com/homenews/5149597-homan-doj-ocasio-cortez-ice/

I will state categorically that I have issues with many of the things that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez supports.  However, informing individuals of their actual, legal, Constitutional rights should be something we all support.  Unless of course you only want those rights to apply to you (and, let's be honest here, people who look like you).

By the way, this is what the "Border Czar" is upset about...

In case you didn't know, U.S. Constitutional rights and protections extend to aliens...here legally or otherwise.  You can learn more about this by reviewing a presentation by Penn State's Law School here.  The second slide is the most important...

These Constitutional rights are the ultimate protection against a big, intrusive government, and by their very nature these must apply to the least among us, or they truly have no real value for anyone.  The fact is that the rich and the powerful will always have the resources to get their way (an example is how Rupert Murdoch gained his citizenship).  In a perfect world the rules would apply equally to the privileged and those "not so much", but as my first Director at Prudential (Augie Urgola, God rest his soul) used to say, "It ain't a perfect world".  While Constitutional rights don't fix this, they at least provide for a kind of safety net.

Finally, even if you support the current president, you should be exceptionally skeptical of any notion that basic rights can be stripped from those who have become a kind of political pawn in a never-ending war for power among politicians.  Any politicians.  Rights taken away from an immigrant today create a precedent that rights could be taken away from you tomorrow.

Re-naming a Stadium & White-Washing History

This will be short, simple and to the point.

Renaming Beaver Stadium to Honor Joe Paterno

Yes, there has been some movement among trustees of the Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) to rename the school's stadium from the current Beaver Stadium to one that features former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno.

Just to save time, this is at the root of the controversy:

Penn State Scandal

From the above link...

March 2, 2002 - Graduate Assistant Mike McQueary tells Coach Joe Paterno that on March 1, he witnessed Sandusky sexually abusing a 10-year-old boy in the Lasch Building showers. On May 7, 2012, prosecutors file court documents to change the date of the assault to on or around February 9, 2001.

March 3, 2002 - Paterno reports the incident to Athletic Director Tim Curley. Later, McQueary meets with Curley and Senior Vice President for Finance and Business Gary Schultz. McQueary testifies that he told Curley and Schultz that he saw Sandusky and the boy engage in anal sex; Curley and Schultz testify they were not told of any such allegation. No law enforcement investigation is launched.

May 6, 2016 - CNN reports the story of another alleged victim who explains how he was a troubled young kid in 1971 when Sandusky raped him in a Penn State bathroom. He says his complaint about it was ignored by Paterno.

July 12, 2016 - Newly unsealed court documents allege that Paterno knew about Sandusky’s abuse and that he dismissed a victim’s complaint.

A bottom line of sorts, for me, is this:  At some point, Joe Paterno did follow the letter of the law in reporting the abuse allegation.  He did not, however, follow the spirit of the law.  He did just enough to try and move past the controversy in order to focus back on football.  Simply put, that's not enough.  As I noted in a Facebook comment, if what happened was some NCAA rules violation, then I'd be somewhat sympathetic.  But this was something that involved sexual abuse.  This was more important than football.  For coach Paterno though it was not.  

Joe Paterno had a moral obligation to put the welfare of children and young adults before that of his football program.  He should be held to a higher standard over and above simply compliance.  He did not do that, and that is unforgiveable.

Does this tarnish everything that Joe Paterno did at Penn State?  No.  He still has a library named after him, which is fitting given his reputation for nominally insisting that Penn State football players also be serious students.  I also happen to believe that his coaching record should not reflect the scandal, and attempts to somehow erase what he accomplished as a coach were/are a bad idea, as it punishes the students who played on all of his teams.

I don't have much of a voice when it comes to Penn State internal politics, but I'm not without one either.  As a graduate, Life Member of the Alumni Association, benefactor to the university (helping to fund a scholarship at Penn State Harrisburg), former board member of the Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society and member of the Atherton Society, I think I've earned the right to express an opinion.  And express an opinion to the Trustees and Administration I will.

Joe Paterno does not deserve the honor of having a stadium named after him.  Doing so is an insult to the victims of sexual abuse and to those alumni of Penn State who view the university as far more than just a football team.  Penn State is better than this.

The Horrible List: Penn State (still, kind of, and needlessly I will add)

Preface:  I have two degrees from Penn State.  I am a life member of the Alumni Association.  I served on the Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society board.  I helped fund a Penn State scholarship.  Penn State will be a beneficiary of my estate.  In fact, I've contributed more to Penn State over the years than I have any other organization.  Simply put, I have earned the right to be critical of PSU.

* * * * * *

When the words "Penn State" and "Horrible" are mentioned in a sentence, it usually is because of the legacy of the abuse scandal that occurred late during the tenure of former coach Joe Paterno.  That's not where I am going with this posting.  Instead, this is my target:

Source:  https://onwardstate.com/2017/02/14/onward-stats-penn-states-enrollment-throughout-history/

The numbers noted in the chart above are 6 years old, but they still support my main point:  A majority of Penn State students are not affiliated with University Park.  In fact, the 52.32% of students outside of University Park in 2016 almost definitely is an understatement of the present university enrollment.  Wikipedia (I know, a questionable source at best) shows current Penn State World Campus enrollment at 14,687 (citation HERE).

Yet, as someone who is the recipient of a ton of Penn State literature (see the preface), the vast majority of the visual content I receive is overwhelmingly related to University Park.  So is the vast majority of what I'll call the "Penn State speak" in how the university communicates to its alumni.  For me, it's been, at times, disheartening.  Penn State was an enormous part of my formal education and it's where I view myself as having learned, in part, to be an adult.  It's just that the "Big Penn State" wants my Penn State experience to be defined by football games, the creamery, fraternities, Thon, etc.  Note that I was in my 40's before I visited State College for the first time.

I have, for the record, told my Penn State story to anyone and everyone at the university who would listen.  This includes fellow alumni, the development office, annual alumni surveys, and various other ways.  I've gotten some tacit admissions in the past that I'm probably right in my assessment of things (the University Park centric model of the Penn State universe), but the marketing machine that is PSU will not be swayed.  It's basically been a repeat of a discussion I had many, many years ago with another Penn State alumni, who when I told them that I graduated from Penn State Harrisburg, their response was "Oh, is that some kind of satellite campus?".  I shook my head in disgust.  It was as if this person somehow wanted to relegate me to the unpopular kid's table in the junior high school cafeteria.

Thinking about solutions though, there is a kind of two-fold response to all of this for me.

First, Penn State's World Campus will continue to grow in the years and decades to come.  This, not University Park, will drive Penn State's growth in the future.  This will also create even more alumni with zero connection to University Park. Maybe some of these folks will, like me, end up working in small ways to change Penn State.  Alienation is a powerful motivator.  These changes could include more non-University Park-centric members of the Alumni Council and other advisory bodies within the university.    

Second, 100% of all the support I have provided to Penn State, both in terms of time and money (not an enormous amount in absolute terms, but significant for me), has gone to Penn State Harrisburg.  No amount will ever go to supporting any facet of operations or programs at University Park. 

In the end, I know that some will take this posting as sounding petty and superficial.  That's okay, by the way.  I wouldn't be writing this though if I didn't care deeply for Penn State, which, as I previously noted, dramatically changed my life for the better.  It is precisely because of this that I want Penn State to be better for all of its students and alumni.   Cultural change is never easy, but that doesn't make it unworthy of the effort.  And Penn State is worth the effort.

A Message from Penn State President Barron (and a comment from me)

I am a proud alumnus of Penn State and a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association.  In addition, I've financial contributed (in a very meaningful way) to the University for many years and I was a member of the Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society Board.  Having established my connection to the University, I'm not speaking out of turn by noting that it's been a troubling few years for Penn State.  While Penn State changed my life for the better...and for that, I will always be in debt to the University...I've found myself disagreeing with many of decisions made by the school's administration over the years.

The death of Timothy Piazza shines an important light on one element of Univesity life that needs to change:  The Greek Fraternity/Sorority system.  A University should be a place for opened doors, for exploration, for the expanding of horizons, for opportunities to meet and interact with all manner of people.  It shouldn't be a place where you go to hang out with people that are just like you.  It shouldn't also be a place where bad behavior is institutionalized and, sadly, rationalized as being somehow "good", somehow offset by some volunteer work.  A university shouldn't be a place for exclusive social clubs.

It's time to end "frats" as they currently exist.  They are relic from a long ago age that needs to be buried once and for all.  Simply tinkering around with their governance will not create meaningful change, as that's been tried before in many other venues.  Just as you can't expect a squirrel to avoid your birdfeeder, you can't expect frat houses to be anything other than exclusive drinking clubs.  It's simply what they are...it's what they do.

Will my alma mater take the lead on this issue?  Likely no.  Like football, the Greek system at Penn State enjoys a special kind of protected status that shields them from even the most reasonable of criticisms.  As a result, I'm simply left shaking my head in disgust at Penn State one more time.

You can read the official University statement on this issue below.


* * * * * *

Dear Penn Staters,

The recent tragic death of student Timothy Piazza has shaken and impacted all of us in the Penn State community. Our hearts go out to the Piazza family and friends during this tremendously difficult time.

We are reaching out to you today as you may observe Penn State being more vocal on this serious matter. Due to the complexity of this issue, the University believes it is important to offer perspective and background to those reporting.

Further, as the May 5 grand jury findings in the investigation of former members of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity have now been released, you may have questions, or others may come to you with inquiries. We wanted to:

• Share a link to the statement distributed late last week from my office on the grand jury findings;
• Reiterate the commitment Penn State has had for more than a decade to focus on the Greek-letter community and issues that have impacted these groups nationwide, including the introduction of educational, enforcement and other programs, as well as policies that clearly spell out consequences;
• Highlight the unprecedented steps Penn State has taken over the last few months. We have developed a resource with critical context - Penn State Update, which:
  • Underscores and contextualizes the national issue with extreme alcohol abuse, that also impacts our community
  • References actions taken earlier this year by the University
  • Indicates resources available

There are no easy solutions, but the commitment remains strong. As mentioned in previous communications, Greek-letter organizations are self-governing private groups on private property, and thus instituting change is quite challenging and complex. The University welcomes and needs the partnership of alumni, parents, national organizations, and all other partners involved. Support and engagement are necessary in order to ensure immediate, vital and sustainable change.

An atmosphere needs to be established that protects and promotes the well-being and safety of all students in the Penn State community. Our efforts are focused on curbing dangerous drinking and other high-risk behaviors, and to bringing out the best of Greek-letter organizations and the communities they create.

Please feel free to use this information resource and share with others as appropriate.

Regards,

Eric J. Barron
President, Penn State

Obligatory Sports Posting

I am not a sports fan, at least in terms of watching sports.  There's just something odd about passively sitting watching others be active.  What's more, sports can sometimes have the impact of dulling and distracting people from the stuff that really matters.  Take high school football for example:  but when a football program becomes the focus of a school, instead of, well, actually educating students, then you know a line has been crossed.

Anyway, all of the above is simply a ramp-up for a posting about sports.  They don't come very often.

Pete Rose 
I hear much grumbling in the dank corners of the Internet that Pete Rose should be "allowed back into baseball".  Let's set the record straight:  Pete Rose is sleaze.  He basically crapped all over the game he supposedly loved.  He then lied about his craptastic activities.  There is no constitutional right to be a part of professional sporting activity.  His presence in the Baseball Hall-O-Fame would be a sham.  Let him die and then, maybe, have a plaque honoring him installed in a Cooperstown ladies bathroom.

Penn State Football
Yes, Penn State is winning football games.  Yeah!  But let's not forget that it was a "football uber-alles" mentality that got the school national attention for allowing the rape of little boys by an assistant coach.  Yes, I know, it was the assistant coach who assaulted the boys, but that activity was passively condoned by a head coach and an administration.  Passively allowed.  When a child is seen being assaulted by an assistant coach and the observer doesn't immediately rush in to try and stop the activity, well then I suspect that maybe concerns for a football program begin to outweigh concerns for basic morality.  Never forget Penn Staters...never forget.  This alumni will not, that's for sure.

High School Sports
I've watched three high school football games so far this year, which for me is a lot.  I actually enjoy watching the kids play.  The fact that they make mistakes helps to create much more enjoyable spectacle.  What's more, high school football games create this unique sense of community that you just don't see just about anywhere else.  Let's not forget though that sports are secondary to the formal education that schools provide to our children.  I cringe when I hear and read stories about academic programs being cut in schools due to budgetary concerns, yet football and other sports programs are left in tact.  Oh, and let's set the record straight:  virtually no high school football program is even capable of earning enough money to pay for itself, when you consider the costs associated with facilities, staff, liability insurance, equipment, transportation and the like.  If you love high school sports then you should also love paying your property taxes.  Period.

Professional Abusers Football Players
So we have this endeavor that encourages people to be ultra violent...

...and we pay these folks very, very well to be that way...

...and by and large the people engaging in these activities are poorly educated products of college jock factories...

...and then we shutter in disbelief that they may engage in violent activity at home?

Come on people, let's get real.  I'm not, in any way, shape or form condoning the violent activities of any professional football players (from any team, be they the Washington Wife-Beaters or the Cincinnati Child-Abusers), but I am saying that these individuals are the products of the systems in which they have been placed.  It's starts in high school, with football players being allowed to cut classes (because we all know that football is more important than education).  Then it progresses to college, where blind eyes are turned on the extra-football social activities of star players, some of whom are not even qualified to be in college in the first place (and yet manage to get through four years of academic studies...hmmmmmm, I wonder how?).  Then they graduate to the professional ranks where they are worshiped as icons by a bread-and-circuses desiring population.  We then feign outrage when these athletes act as if they can get away with beating a spouse or a child?  Oh come on!  These athletes have been trained to believe that they can get away with just about anything.


In the final analysis, I do believe that sports do play an important role in our society...as entertainment.  Yes, I said entertainment.  The fact that these activities play a far larger role in society today than just another means of entertainment speaks to the fact that it's in the best interests of some that the populace be distracted and complacent.  Bread and circuses folks, bread and circuses.

Playboy and Metal

I was driving home from work yesterday and for some reason the following thought wandered into my head: I wonder whatever happened to Playboy and Metal? I suppose I owe you a bit of a flashback in order to make sense of that statement, so here we go...

(My college ID, circa 1982)

When I was starting my junior year of college at Penn State Harrisburg, I got my first taste of living on campus, specifically in a dorm. In my case, it was the third floor of Wrisberg Hall. On that fateful day in August of 1984 as my friend Tom was helping me move all my junk into my shared dorm room, I remember walking by the room that was apparently occupied by two individuals named "Playboy and Metal". I swear to one and all this was true: the sign on their dorm room door said "Playboy and Metal", not their actual names (which I never knew), but simply "Playboy and Metal".  From the looks of the room, these two were ready for the high life, with a big rug and lots of extra stuff. And then there was the physical sights of Playboy and Metal themselves.

Playboy, as I recall, was on the short side. A squat kind of guy. Maybe the kind that, had it been 60 years prior, would have made a decent coal miner. 1000 years prior, maybe a decent bridge troll. Oh, and there was the consummate 70's pornstache (well make that "pornstache wannabe").  Playboy seemed to have lots of Playboy branded stuff.

Metal was tall and skinny, clean shaven and ready, it seemed, to get into a fight at a moment's notice.  Think of him as being a kind of proto-Tommy Lee.

For the record I could very well have the descriptions of Playboy and Metal completely reversed.  I suppose it doesn't matter all that much anyway.

Also, and this is stretching my brain cells a bit, I recall that Playboy and Metal may...I repeat MAY...have had about 160 IQ points (in total, between the two of them).

I don't ever recall interacting with Playboy and Metal.  I think they were too busy with "chicks" most of the time, and I was too busy feeling insecure.  Besides, do I look like the kind that would actually hang out with someone named either Playboy or Metal?  If they were definition of 80's cool, then I was their opposite.

(My Chrysler Newport at Penn State Harrisburg, 1985)

Anyway, I don't know what ever happened to either Playboy or Metal.  I moved out of Wrisberg Hall at the end of my junior year and for my final year of college lived in an on-campus ranch house with a bunch of other guys who were far more like me than they were like Playboy or Metal.  The memories have somewhat faded since then.

I could, I suppose, imagine what Playboy and Metal are up to these days.

Playboy could very well be the manager of a south central Pennsylvania Turkey Hill, providing many opportunities for flirting with the ladies.  I suspect that the pornstache remains, although rest of the noggin hair has probably long since past.  Maybe he's married, maybe he's not.  Maybe all of that time chasing the fairer sex left him with many fond memories, and more than a few social diseases.  He probably picks up a couple of bottles of Playboy men's cologne, when it's on after-Christmas sale at Kmart.

Metal?  I don't know about Metal.  Maybe he ended up being the roadie for some 70's band that plays the nostalgia circuit.  Think REO Speedwagon or Journey.  The black hair has turned grey, all be it in a pony tail now.  He's the kind of a guy who actually can play a decent song or two on the guitar, but alas, only really gets to tune them while some 65 year old gets paid the big bucks to "keep on a-rock'n".

I wouldn't have admitted it back then, but I was probably a tad bit jealous of Playboy and Metal.  They had the confidence that comes with cool names (I was just "Steve") and they seemingly had the world, for a brief moment in time, by the gonads.  I had none of that, but maybe my game was far more long term theirs.  I've also learned over time that we are all equally dysfunctional, even when comparing Steve to Playboy and Metal.

I think I'd done reminiscing about about Playboy and Metal for now.  Maybe the urge will come again in another 30 years.  Maybe never.

Mike McQueary's hard lessons

New information is surfacing about Mike McQueary, the assistant who witnessed actual abuse on the part of former Penn State football coach Jerry Sandusky.  You can read more HERE.

In some ways, I feel genuinely bad for Mr McQueary.  As a fellow graduate of Penn State, I know how easy it is to get fully caught up in the whole "Football U" thing.  Mr McQueary?  Heck, he spent years at ground zero.  Also, it appears that there are elements to his own personal story that make the whole abuse witnessing and trial pretty painful for him.

The whole thing reminds me of a sewage treatment plant.  Yes, the place your toilet ultimately flushes to.

You see, in a sewage treatment plant it stinks.  People that work there go to work knowing that it stunk yesterday, it will stink today and tomorrow will be smelly as well.  Now the folks in a sewage treatment plant have one advantage though:  they know about the smelly aspect of their employment.

With Penn State's football program, it's pretty clear that some things were smelly too, but yet so many, such as Mr McQueary, were so enthralled in a football culture that they were blind (or whatever the equivalent is to not having a sense of smell) to the real stench around them.  I refer to the stench of "what really and only matters is football; everything else...including those things that might take away from football...are secondary".  A boy getting raped in a shower?  Nahhh, just tell Coach Paterno and forget about it.  A boy getting raped in the shower?  Coach Paterno told his boss* so now he can forget about it.  Gambling problem?  That's okay, as long as you are betting on football and Penn State to win.

It really does boil down to culture:  when you live and work in a culture that says "the only thing that matters is football", then of course things like child rape get inevitably swept under the rug.  This was and still is, to this very day, pervasive in some corners of the extended Penn State community.  Some people actually believe that Coach Paterno did enough to stop the abuse, and yet the facts show that he treated the report by Mr McQueary at best as a "to do" item on daily check-list of of things that distracted him from football.   You can read an interesting and factually correct accounting of these events HERE.  Allow me to quote from the article:

According to the Freeh Report, in e-mails from February 2001—after Mike McQueary reported witnessing Sandusky rape a small child in Penn State's Football Program's Lasch building—President Spanier, Vice President Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley decided to confront Sandusky, alert Sandusky's charity/victim breeding ground The Second Mile and, most importantly, contact the Department of Welfare.

That plan changed only after Curley had a little chinwag with coach Joe Paterno.

In an e-mail to Spanier and Schultz Curley writes, "After giving it more thought and talking it over with Joe yesterday, I am uncomfortable with what we agreed were the next steps."

The three decide to merely confront Sandusky and do not contact the Department of Welfare or any law enforcement agency. They decide to keep it hushed up because of a conversation Curley had with Paterno. We don't know what Paterno may have said, but we do have more than two functioning brain cells and can pretty much figure out that Paterno persuaded Curley not to take this outside the University. Keep it in house. And keep it in house they did.

(Source:  The Bleacher Report:  Penn State Football We Now Know What Joe Paterno Knew)

Now why keep it in house?  Because doing so minimized the damage to the Penn State football program.  That's why.

In the end, Mike McQueary is yet another victim of a system that was rewarding the wrong things.  I do feel genuinely bad for Mr McQueary, as his life is in shreds.  And yet, as difficult as he has it, he is still probably in far better shape than that boy Jerry Sandusky raped in the shower all those years ago.  That same boy that Mike McQueary could have helped, had he only acted.  History, it seems, repeats itself in oh so many tragic ways.

As I do with most of my Penn State postings (at least the one's that tend to cheese folks off), I'll sign this...

Steve Albert
Life Member, Penn State Alumni Association
Prior Board Member, Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society
Graduate, Class of 1986






(*) Truly the saddest joke of them all, as anyone with any insight about how things actually worked at Penn State "back in the day" will tell you that Joe Paterno had no boss.  In fact, when the board once attempted to get him to retire he basically told them the equivalent of "No thanks boys; I think I'll stay on.  No get out of here, as I have a football program to run".

From Penn State's Board of Trustees - Eric J. Barron named President-elect

Received yesterday from Penn State.

Welcome, Eric J. Barron, president-elect of Penn State

Today, Eric J. Barron was named the 18th President of Penn State and will assume responsibilities for the presidency on May 12, 2014. Dr. Barron has served as the president of Florida State University in Tallahassee since 2010, and has held several notable positions within government and higher education, including dean of Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences from 2002 to 2006. Below is information related to his appointment by the Board of Trustees.

Penn State Trustees name Eric J. Barron president, effective May 12

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 18th president of Penn State has been named by the University's Board of Trustees. Eric J. Barron, a former dean at Penn State and current leader of Florida State University, will begin as Penn State's next president on May 12, 2014.

After an exhaustive search, Barron was appointed today (Feb. 17) during a special meeting of the University's Board of Trustees on the unanimous recommendation of the 14-member Trustee Presidential Selection Council, chaired by Trustee Karen Peetz. Barron will succeed Rodney A. Erickson, who in 2012 announced his intention to retire before June 30, 2014.

History of accomplishment

Barron, 62, has served as president of Florida State University in Tallahassee since 2010. In this role, he oversees Florida State University's 16 colleges that offer more than 275 undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, professional and specialist degree programs, including medicine and law. Serving nearly 41,000 students, Florida State is one of the largest and oldest of the 11 institutions of higher learning in the State University System of Florida.

Before his presidency at Florida State University, Barron held a number of notable positions within higher education, including dean of Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences from 2002 to 2006, having become a member of the Penn State faculty in 1986.

"My wife, Molly, and I spent 20 years at Penn State, where I served as a faculty member, center director and dean. In that time, I learned what it meant to continually strive for excellence – to make every year stronger than the year before," Barron said. "I also came to understand the power of this community, we are unbeatable when we are working together for a common purpose. It is an honor to lead this great University."

Scholar, educator, administrator and researcher

"In Eric Barron, we have found a president who is energetic, innovative and dedicated to maximizing the potential of our great institution," said Board Chairman Keith Masser in introducing Barron to the board. "Dr. Barron has a track record as an accomplished educator, highly respected researcher, an effective administrator and an internationally recognized scholar. It is clear that Eric Barron is not only familiar with our University, but also has the experience and knowledge to lead us forward, continuing our path of excellence."

Trustee Peetz agreed and said that Barron's credentials and proven leadership abilities brought his name to the top of the list. The executive search firm Isaacson, Miller contacted nearly 400 individuals regarding the position, as well as tapping into another 150, who were asked to suggest individuals who might be available for the position. Of particular interest to the selection committee was Barron's role leading a doctoral research university that also has a law school and a college of medicine, as well as his strategic plan to take Florida State University into the top 25 ranking of national public universities.

Looking toward the future

"This is certainly a pivotal time in the history of Penn State, and Eric Barron is the eminent leader that our University needs to take us to the next level of academic excellence and national prominence," said Peetz. "Dr. Barron has remarkable experience in so many facets of higher education and within the communities of which he has been a part. He has demonstrated strengths in fiscal matters, strategic planning, leadership and communication, and his track record for partnering with the community is stellar."

While leading Florida State University, Barron directed the university's rise to a U.S. News & World Report ranking as the most efficiently operated university in the nation.

From 2008 to 2010, Barron served as director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), a prominent federally funded research and development laboratory in Boulder, Colo., devoted to service, research and education in the atmospheric and related sciences. Barron had previously been a scientist at NCAR from 1981 to 1985.

Before his NCAR directorship, Barron was dean of the Jackson School of Geosciences at the University of Texas-Austin, from 2006-2008, where he oversaw the task of building a school that just four years before had received a single gift of $282 million for the purpose of creating a school of geosciences. A major research university, the University of Texas at Austin is the largest institution in the University of Texas system and is home to more than 50,000 students.

In the previous two decades, Barron was a familiar figure at Penn State. From 1986 to 2006, he served in various positions at Penn State, including professor of geosciences, director of the Earth System Science Center, director of the EMS Environmental Institute and dean of the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. He also earned the title of distinguished professor of geosciences at Penn State, and was named winner of both the Wilson Award for Excellence in Teaching (1999) and the Wilson Award for Excellence in Research (1992) in recognition of both his scholarly distinction and his outstanding teaching. Barron came to Penn State after one year on the faculty of the University of Miami.

He is a Fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society and the Geological Society of America. Barron is a highly recognized scientist and has received a number of national awards as a scholar, researcher and distinguished lecturer, including NASA Group Achievement Award and NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal.

His expertise in the areas of climate, environmental change and oceanography, among other earth science topics, have led to extensive service for the federal government and the international community. He has served as a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and is a member of its science advisory board; a member of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, director's advisory committee; and chair, Committee on Ocean Infrastructure Strategy for U.S. Ocean Research in 2030.

Barron brings to Penn State nearly 35 years of experience in academic administration, education, research and public service, as well as fiscal management within large and complex institutions.

Barron, who was at the board meeting Monday, said that he looks forward to again working with Penn State faculty, staff, students and alumni in advancing Penn State's core mission.

"I am thrilled to take on the leadership role of one of the nation's most prestigious universities," Barron said. "Penn State, already well-known for its high academic standards, its innovative research, global vision and unmatched public service, is well-positioned for the future and for creating more opportunities for students, as well as the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania."

"The appointment of Dr. Barron as Penn State's next president ensures an excellent future for our University," said Dean Ann (Nan) Crouter, chairman of the University Presidential Search and Screen Committee, an 18-member group composed of students, faculty and staff. "He has been an outstanding faculty member, highly regarded researcher and an administrator who understands the roles and dynamics of the academic community. He has a remarkable record in building enrollment while ensuring academic excellence and diversity, and his desire to be inclusive in his decision making is something that is very important to our community."

A native of Lafayette, Ind., Barron received a bachelor of science degree in geology from Florida State University, a master's degree and Ph.D both in oceanography from the University of Miami, Coral Gables, Fla.

The president-elect and his wife, Molly, an educator, will live in Schreyer House on the University Park campus. The Barrons have two grown children, Emily and James.

For more information about Dr. Barron, visit http://www.president-elect.psu.edu.

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An open letter to fellow Penn State alumni

Dear Fellow Penn State Alumni, 

It was never going to happen, despite a desire to "Billieve".

Coach Bill O'Brien was not going to be the next Joe Paterno.  In fact there was never any chance he would be; instead, he went for the money (details from Penn State HERE).  

Reality is setting in, even for Penn State football fans.  This includes the facts that:

• College football isn't about honor and integrity; it's about business and money.  It has more to do with building bank accounts that it does building character.  Want proof?  Look no further than to the lies told by Bill O'Brien to potential Penn State athlete-students during recruiting trips. 
• Even in "going for the money", keep in mind that the football coach at Penn State was (and probably still will be) the highest paid public employee in all of Pennsylvania.  How much sense does that make?  The coach of a vehicle for entertainment (and remember football is just that, entertainment) is paid more than the people who teach future doctors and nurses how to save lives.  Yes, there is a ton of glory in that one.
• The days of a decades long coach will never, ever happen again.  Never, ever, period.  Success at Penn State will breed offers from other schools and the NFL.  Get used to the revolving door boys and girls.  Maybe, if the school is lucky (tongue firmly planted in cheek), some spawn-o-Bowden will coach the team.  "Bowdenieve" anyone?
• The fantasy of the "student athlete" is slowly fading away and is being replaced by the reality of the "athlete who is nominally also a student", even at Penn State.

All is not lost though, as the cult of football survived Joe Paterno's (at best) indifference to child molestation, and it will survive the departure of Bill O'Brien.  Why?  Because the worship of sports isn't about rational thought, ideals or anything high-minded of the sort.  It's about escapism, in one of its truest and best forms.  We Americans are nothing if not lovers of fantasy and adventure, and college football at Penn State provides a little bit of both for a few weekends starting ever "school" year.

For the Glory

Steve Albert '86

Penn State Alumni Association Life Member

The Thornburgh Report

I read with glee the numerous "JoePa" supporters yesterday touting the "paid rebuttal" known as the Thornburgh Report.  To those not following this nonsense, here's a snap-shot:

• Former FBI Director Louis Freeh issued a report in the Penn State/Jerry Sandusky child molestation case.  This report was very critical of former coach Joe Paterno.
• Not liking the Freeh  report, the Paterno family PAID for their own report, conducted by former United States Attorney General and former Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh.  This new report used the same data as Mr Freeh uncovered, but reached a different conclusion about the involvement of Joe Paterno in the Sandusky case.

So what you have is someone not liking an answer, so they attempt to change it.  Pretty simple actually.

Pretty silly if you ask me.  Don't forget that the Paterno family PAID for the Thornburgh Report.  What's more, the Paterno's were long time Republican supporters in Pennsylvania (which is not a bad thing), and part of me wonders how much the Paterno family contributed to Dick Thornburgh's political campaigns over the years.  Conflict of interest?  That seems just a bit too cozy for me.  To the best of my knowledge Louis Freeh had no connections to the University prior to the issuance of this report.  He certainly wasn't paid to come up with a specific conclusion (unlike Dick Thornburgh) either.

Andy Palumbo is spot on with his analysis of this whole sad affair.  You can read his take on it HERE.

While I admire loyalty, what really saddens me as a Penn State graduate (and life member of Alumni Association) is when I read the strident defenders of Joe Paterno forgetting that this whole mess isn't about "JoePa"...it's about a bunch of boys who were raped by a monster.  A monster that Joe Paterno kept and fed for a number of years.  If he didn't know what was going on he should have known.  The raping of children under his watch over-shadow's Joe Paterno's legacy, as it should.

Corbett's cynical political ploy

Pennsylvania's governor is hoping to improve his image via a lawsuit targeting the NCAA over it's post-Sandusky Penn State sanctions.  Citation HERE.

This is, in my humble opinion, nothing more than a thinly disguised political ploy.  Let me tell you why.

Timing

The sanctions were imposed months ago.  At the time they were announced, Gov. Corbett, who sits on the Penn State Board, was basically silent.  If these sanctions are, as he states, an over-reach of NCAA power now, why weren't they then?  Heck, even giving him the benefit of the doubt, why didn't the Governor at least question them back when they were imposed?

Standing

It's not much of a secret that Gov. Corbett has among the lowest ratings of any sitting Pennsylvania governor during the modern age.  Citation HERE.  The guy is, to put it bluntly, desperate.  As quoted in the Standard Speaker article, 

"Only about a sixth of voters (17 percent) think Corbett did a good or excellent job handling the Sandusky sex abuse case at Penn State University with almost two-thirds (66 percent) saying he did a fair or poor job."

Yes, a whopping 17% give Gov. Corbett "good or excellent" marks.  That is, quite frankly, pitiful.  This action screams of an appeal to hard-core Penn State fans for some popularity mojo.  It won't work.  Why?

Actions

Despite his new found love for Penn State, Gov. Corbett has amassed, during his short tenure, a long history on animosity towards education in general, higher education specifically, and Penn State especially.  As referenced in a bumper sticker, the Governor's education motto could very well be "Every child left behind" (Citation HERE).  If actions speak louder than words, then we don't need a lawsuit to see just how Tom Corbett feels about education.

Missing the Point

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out something that a friend on Facebook, Sabrina McLaughlin, simply and eloquently posted yesterday:

"I'm not a parent myself, but I think we should all try to have the hearts and minds of mothers and fathers when it comes to children. And I'm sick of being in a place where so many people seem to feel that NCAA sanctions are more significant than enabling the rape of children."

Well I am a parent, and I can't help but be disgusted by the priorities of the previous Penn State administration...where the reputation of a coach and a football program was more important than the well being and safety of children...and Tom Corbett.  This isn't about the NCAA.  It's about the enabling of child rape.  If anything, my only concession in this mess is that the whole of the NCAA fine should be staying in Pennsylvania to fund programs to fight child abuse.  That's it.

As I often do in posts like this, I'm going to end this tirade by mentioning that I write this as a graduate of Penn State (class of 1986) and a Life Member of the Penn State Alumni Association.  

Official Statement, Penn State President Erickson

From the Penn State alumni newswire.

President Rodney Erickson

Statement Regarding NCAA Consent Decree July 23, 2012 The tragedy of child sexual abuse that occurred at our University altered the lives of innocent children. Today, as every day, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the victims of Mr. Sandusky and all other victims of child abuse. Against this backdrop, Penn State accepts the penalties and corrective actions announced today by the NCAAwww.ncaa.com. With today's announcement and the action it requires of us, the University takes a significant step forward. The NCAA ruling holds the University accountable for the failure of those in power to protect children and insists that all areas of the University community are held to the same high standards of honesty and integrity. The NCAA also mandates that Penn State become a national leader to help victims of child sexual assault and to promote awareness across our nation. Specifically, the University will pay $12 million a year for the next five years into a special endowment created to fund programs for the detection, prevention and treatment of child abuse. This total of $60 million can never reduce the pain suffered by victims, but will help provide them hope and healing. The NCAA penalty will also affect the football program. There is a four-year ban on all post-season games, including bowl games and the Big Ten Championship game, and a future reduction in the number of football scholarships that can be granted. We are grateful that the current student athletes are not prevented from participation because of the failures of leadership that occurred. Additionally the NCAA has vacated all wins of Penn State football from 1998-2011. We also welcome the Athletics Integrity Agreement and the third-party monitor, who will be drilling into compliance and culture issues in intercollegiate athletics, in conjunction with the recommendations of the Freeh Report. Lastly a probationary period of five years will be imposed. It is important to know we are entering a new chapter at Penn State and making necessary changes. We must create a culture in which people are not afraid to speak up, management is not compartmentalized, all are expected to demonstrate the highest ethical standards, and the operating philosophy is open, collegial, and collaborative. Since receiving Judge Freeh's preliminary recommendations in January, the University has instituted several reforms. Today we accept the terms of the consent decree imposed by the NCAA. As Penn State embarks upon change and progress, this announcement helps to further define our course. It is with this compass that we will strive for a better tomorrow. Penn State will move forward with a renewed sense of commitment to excellence and integrity in all aspects of our University. We continue to recognize the important role that intercollegiate athletics provides for our student athletes and the wider University community as we strive to appropriately balance academic and athletic accomplishments. Penn State will continue to be a                       world-class educational institution of which our students, faculty, staff and alumni can be justifiably proud. President Rodney Erickson

Statement from Penn State: Removal of the Joe Paterno Statue

As received this morning.  Personally I think this is a good idea that truly is in the best interests of the University.  Good move on the part of President Erickson, although I suspect there will be some Paterno-worshipers out there who will object.  Note to them:  your hero enabled a pedophile.  Deal with it.

Penn State Alumni Newswire - 7.22.2012

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Penn State president issues statement related to Paterno statue

Penn State President Rodney Erickson issued a statement today (July 22)
related to the removal of the Joe Paterno Statue. The statement reads in part,
"Our thoughts and prayers continue to go out to those victims of Mr. Sandusky
and all other victims of child abuse ... I now believe that, contrary to its
original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and
an obstacle to healing in our University and beyond."

Read the full story on Live: http://live.psu.edu/story/60474#nw44

Penn State & the NCAA Death Penalty

I hate blogging about sports.  I just hate it, and as evidence I can point to about a dozen or fewer posts in this blog about sports.  I like playing sports, but watching them, reading about them or blogging about them?  No thanks.  If the sport in question doesn't involve sweat on my part, then I'm not interested.  This noted, I am going to venture in this abysmal territory to talk for a moment about the National Collegiate Atheletic Association (NCAA) potentially invoking the "death penalty" against Penn State.

For the unitiated, the "death penalty" refers to the ability of the NCAA to suspend a college/university's athletic program(s) for at least a year.

Let me say up front that I am adamately opposed the the NCAA imposting the death penalty against Penn State's football program.  I say this as someone who has been extremely critical of the Univesity...MY UNIVERSITY...in prior postings.  In no uncertain terms I have stated that Joe Paterno was morally and ethically bound to act at the first hint of wrong-doing on the part of serial pedophile Jerry Sandusky.  He didn't act, a FACT that was spelled out in painful levels of detail in the Freeh Report. Joe Paterno a man who many, including myself, considered to be a role model for how big-time college sports should be conducted, put the interests of his own ego, his football program and the reputation of a university before the physical and emotional well being of children.  It doesn't get much worst than that, and while I could continue this rant, I think the point is made.  Also culpable are the other individuals named in the Freeh Report, including former president Spanier, a man who claimed to be in charge of a major university but now all of a sudden wants to claim he actually wasn't in charge of a major university.

Want to know who is NOT culpable in all of this mess?  It's the student athletes who currently play on the Penn State football team.  Unless someone has some evidence that any of them participated in this horrible business, they should be considered by-standers.  In fact, they, as much as anyone else, can play a role in beginning the process of redeeming the name of Penn State football.  They can't do that though if the program tactically doesn't exist.  In fact, for many of them, playing football at Penn State is the culmination of years of practice and study.  Denying them the ability to aspire to achieving their dreams seems to me to a punishment where none should exist. 

Yes, there are structual problems with how Penn State is governed.  Yes, the WORSHIP of football at Penn State at least contributed to a culture where institutional reputation became more important the lives of children and that MUST change.  Yes, specific individuals need to be held accountable for their actions over the past 14+ years.  All of these problems though can be addressed without punishing the innocent by-standers that comprise the current Penn State football team. 

Children were harmed at Penn State and that is unforgivable, but let's target the punishment at the right people, namely the leadership of Penn State.  Punishing football players does nothing to heal the very real wounds that were created by Jerry Sandusky and enabled by Spanier, Paterno and others.

Penn State: They Didn't Fail to Fail

I've written countless times on the Penn State scandal, so I'm not going to simply rehash reality.  I've also read about a dozen different commentaries on the release of the Freeh Report, the best (in my opinion) of which was in Sports Illustrated.  You can link to it here...

Penn State Leaders Can't Hide Their Guilt...

While the Freeh Report itself is long, the basic conclusions are not:

At Penn State, institutional reputation truly reigned supreme over all other considerations (with the exception of that consideration called "Joe Paterno").

At Penn State, no leader wanted to "hurt" Jerry Sandusky's feelings.  It didn't matter the feelings...and bodies...of the young victims he hurt.

Joe Paterno cared more about his football program than he did a child who was raped in his showers.

Like I said, pretty simply stuff.

Where to go from here?  As I've noted in the past, I am a life member of the Penn State Alumni Association, and I have no plans to resign that connection.  I also did contribute to the University again this year (I didn't last year), but I wrote my check out specifically to Penn State Harrisburg.  I will not...ever...support the University's annual fund. All of my contributions to the University, until the day I die, will only be made directly to Penn State Harrisburg.

I am very grateful for the Penn State education I received, as it truly did change my life for the better.  But that's it.  In life it's painful when you discover that you've been lied to, and Penn State...and very specifically Joe Paterno...lied to us all.  In respect for the dead I would normally say something like "May God have mercy of Joe Paterno's soul", but in this case the sad truth is this:  Joe Paterno showed no mercy to the children who were raped by Jerry Sandusky.  Neither did an entire university.


Steve Albert
Penn State, class of 1986
Life Member, Penn State Alumni Association
Past Board Member, Penn State Harrisburg Alumni Society

Statement from the Penn State Board of Trustees, Re: The Freeh Report

From the Penn State Alumni newswire.

PENN STATE ISSUES STATEMENT ON FREEH REPORT

July 12, 2012, SCRANTON, PA - Today's comprehensive report is sad and sobering in that it concludes that at the moment of truth, people in positions of authority and responsibility did not put the welfare of children first. The Board of Trustees, as the group that has paramount accountability for overseeing and ensuring the proper functioning and governance of the University, accepts full responsibility for the failures that occurred. The Board, in cooperation with the Administration, will take every action to ensure that events like these never happen again in our university community.

The focus of all of our actions going forward will be on driving a culture of honesty, integrity, responsible leadership and accountability at all levels and within all units of our institution.

Judge Freeh's report concludes that certain people at the University who were in a position to protect children or confront the predator failed to do so. There can be no ambiguity about that. The defenseless victims and their families are at the forefront of our thoughts and prayers. We are deeply sorry for the failure to protect these vulnerable young boys from the pain and anguish they suffered. At the same time, we are filled with admiration for the bravery shown by the young men and their families who came forward to ensure that justice will be done.

While today's issuance of the Freeh Report provides some level of clarity for our community, it does not undo the pain that the victims of Jerry Sandusky have experienced, and continue to experience. We will continue to offer counseling to Mr. Sandusky's victims, listen to them and take affirmative steps to address the harm they have suffered.

Beyond our campuses, the University is undertaking a number of actions to help build greater awareness of the societal issue of child sexual abuse. We are partnering with the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape (PCAR) and have also created the Center for the Protection of Children at the Hershey Medical Center. Penn State University intends to be a constructive leader in preventing, reporting and responding to such abuse. This is a problem that plagues our nation, and we have a special duty to increase awareness, prevention and treatment of child sexual abuse.

Judge Freeh's investigation was intended to identify where failures occurred and what changes should be made for the future. As the Freeh report noted, the University has already taken steps to begin addressing some of the shortcomings.

The Board of Trustees acknowledges that it failed to create an environment of accountability and transparency and did not have optimal reporting procedures or committee structures. Beginning in March 2011 and continuing until the publication of the Grand Jury presentment in November 2011, the Board failed to make proper inquiry of President Spanier and others regarding the Sandusky matter. As a result, the Board was unprepared to deal with the events that occurred in November 2011.

The Board has begun taking a more active oversight role and has implemented specific oversight committees, focused on Risk, Audit, Legal, Compliance, Academic Excellence, Governance and Human Resources. Furthermore, the Board is committed to greater transparency and communications with the entire University community.

Additionally, the University Administration has strengthened policies and programs involving minors, child abuse and mandated reporter training; ensuring a process for prompt reporting of abuse and sexual misconduct; hiring a new, full-time Clery Compliance Coordinator and providing Clery Act training for employees; and establishing a position of, and commencing a national search for, a director of University Compliance. Further information can be found here: www.progress.psu.edu.

In the weeks ahead, the University will carefully review and consider each of the report's recommendations. Tomorrow at its regularly scheduled meeting, the Board of Trustees will consider a series of immediate next steps. President Rodney Erickson has appointed three members of his senior leadership team to coordinate and implement operational changes suggested by the Freeh Report.

As the Freeh Report notes Penn State "is an outstanding institution, nationally renowned for its excellence in academics and research." Nothing in this report detracts from the many significant accomplishments of our faculty, staff, students and alumni. We also remain proud of the accomplishments of Penn State's student athletes over many years, and we reaffirm the fundamental premise that academic excellence and athletic achievement are wholly consistent and complementary goals.

With the release of the Freeh Report we are beginning to correct our failures, promote healing and build a stronger tomorrow for Penn State. We are continuing the process of addressing the most painful chapter in the University's history so that we can heal and move forward.