NCAA Imposes $60 Million "Fine" And Other Penalties on Penn State

The NCAA has imposed a $60 million penalty and vacated all of the school's wins from 1998 to 2011. The $60 million is going to found a fund to compensate victims; the $60 million isn't in addition to whatever settlements come against the school or its officials.

Let that sink in a moment.

Penn State's fine is equal to one year's revenues from the football program.

The schools wins are vacated from 1998 to 2011.

The punishment also included the loss of some scholarships over four years and the vacating of all of the team’s victories from 1998 to 2011, but stopped short of forcing the university to shut down the football team for a season or more, the so-called death penalty. Still, the penalties are serious enough that it is expected to take Penn State’s football program, one of the most successful in the country, years before it will be able to return to the sport’s top echelon.

The postseason ban and the scholarship restrictions essentially prevent the program from fielding a team that can be competitive in the Big Ten. The N.C.A.A. will also allow Penn State players to transfer to another university, where they can play immediately, inviting the possibility of a mass exodus. Penn State will lose 10 initial scholarships and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period.

In announcing the penalties, Mark Emmert, the N.C.A.A. president, called the case the most painful “chapter in the history of intercollegiate athletics,” and said it could be argued that the punishment was “greater than any other seen in N.C.A.A. history.” He said Penn State accepted the penalties when they were presented to the university.

The N.C.A.A.'s penalty is the latest action to stem from the scandal involving Sandusky, who was convicted last month of being a serial pedophile. The release of a grand jury report detailing Sandusky’s actions last November led to the firing of the head coach, Joe Paterno; the removal of the university’s president, Graham B. Spanier; and charges against two other top university officials.

Emmert said that no punishment the N.C.A.A. could impose would change the damage done by Sandusky’s acts, but “the culture, actions and inactions that allowed them to be victimized will not be tolerated in collegiate athletics.”

Ed Ray, the president of Oregon State and chairman of the N.C.A.A.'s executive committee, said the case, and the sanctions imposed, represented a declaration by university presidents and chancellors that “this has to stop.” By that he meant a win at all costs mentality with respect to intercollegiate sports.

And all of this is because Penn State officials thought that protecting the football program and the university's reputation was more important than protecting innocent kids.

Now, the program is hit with the stigma of condoning the abuse. And it still is insufficient.

Sorry, but they deserved to have the football program canned altogether. The school's officials actively engaged in a coverup of sexual abuse and it was institutionalized by those in the athletic department and from top school officials. $60 million is a huge sum, but one that isn't going to miss a beat with a school's endowment the size of Penn State ($1.8 billion systemwide). Losing scholarships, bowl appearances, etc., will hurt, but it's not going to rectify the way that the school completely abrogated its responsibilities to the community.

People need to learn that there are serious consequences for condoning sexual abuse. A fine isn't going to cut it in my book.

As for the students in the football program, they should be allowed to transfer to other schools with no penalization; they were bystanders to the failures and had no way to know that they were going to a program that was as debased as Penn State was. Let them transfer to other programs with no loss of scholarships or eligibility. This isn't on them.

Oh, and I still see that the Paterno family questions the Freeh report's conclusions about Joe P. Sorry, but I have no sympathy for them or Paterno's legacy. He knew, or had reason to know of the abuse, and did nothing - and worse, let Sandusky continue to play a role in the sports program and work with kids.

The school finally took down the statue honoring Paterno over the weekend. That's little more than a symbolic gesture and cold consolation to those who were abused.

UPDATE:
The NCAA decision also allows football players to transfer at no loss of eligibility or loss of scholarship. That's good for the students, but the university should have seen even greater penalties. The football program should have been disbanded. The university institutionalized the failings that allowed Sandusky to commit his abuse and didn't do enough to protect innocents.

The scandal will eventually fade and the program will eventually return in full form.

Heck, a 1950s point shaving scandal at a bunch of NYC area colleges had longer lasting results:

While Kentucky was forced to cancel one season of play (1952-53), it was the only program that was not permanently hobbled by the scandal. To date, Bradley is the only other affected school to have appeared in a final major media poll. However, none of the programs would suffer more than CCNY and LIU. Following the discovery of several other irregularities, CCNY deemphasized its athletic program and dropped down to what is now Division III. LIU shut down its entire athletic program from 1951 to 1957, and didn't return to Division I until the 1980s.

Penn State should have at least done the same as LIU, or the NCAA should have imposed a similar fate.

Penn State Report On Sandusky Finds Repeatedly Concealing Key Information

The report by the Special Investigator (the law firm headed by former FBI Director Louis Freeh) hired by Penn State to look into the Jerry Sandusky abuse of children on campus has been released (full report here) and it appears that the university is in trouble.

Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children who Sandusky victimized. Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley never demonstrated, through actions or words, any concern for the safety and well-being of Sandusky’s victims until after Sandusky’s arrest.

In critical written correspondence that we uncovered on March 20th of this year, we see evidence of their proposed plan of action in February 2001 that included reporting allegations about Sandusky to the authorities. After Mr. Curley consulted with Mr. Paterno, however, they changed the plan and decided not to make a report to the authorities. Their failure to protect the February 9, 2001 child victim, or make attempts to identify him, created a dangerous situation for other unknown, unsuspecting young boys who were lured to the Penn State campus and football games by Sandusky and victimized repeatedly by him.

Further, they exposed this child to additional harm by alerting Sandusky, who was the only one who knew the child’s identity, about what McQueary saw in the shower on the night of February 9, 2001. The stated reasons by Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley for not taking action to identify the victim and for not reporting Sandusky to the police or Child Welfare are:

(1) Through counsel, Messrs. Curley and Schultz have stated that the “humane” thing to do in 2001 was to carefully and responsibly assess the best way to handle vague but troubling allegations.

(2) Mr. Paterno said that “I didn’t know exactly how to handle it and I was afraid to do something that might jeopardize what the university procedure was. So I backed away and turned it over to some other people, people I thought would have a little more expertise than I did. It didn’t work out that way.”

(3) Mr. Spanier told the Special Investigative Counsel that he was never told by anyone that the February 2001 incident in the shower involved the sexual abuse of a child but only “horsing around.” He further stated that he never asked what “horsing around” by Sandusky entailed.

Taking into account the available witness statements and evidence, it is more reasonable to conclude that, in order to avoid the consequences of bad publicity, the most powerful leaders at Penn State University – Messrs. Spanier, Schultz, Paterno and Curley – repeatedly concealed critical facts relating to Sandusky’s child abuse from the authorities, the Board of Trustees, Penn State community, and the public at large.

They concealed all kinds of critical information on a repeated basis, and held Spanier, Schultz, Curry, and Paterno responsible for ongoing failures to protect against Sandusky's child abuse, essentially empowering Sandusky to continue abusing children.

If you don't think that this report will play heavily in potential civil suits for those cases that might not have passed the statute of limitations, you haven't been paying attention. The University is likely going to have to pay out multi-million dollar settlements with those who were abused, because the investigation shows that those key officials knew, or had reason to know of the abuse, and did nothing to stop it.

Penn State Trustees Sacks Paterno; President In Wake of Sandusky Sex Scandal

Football coach Joe Paterno and the Penn State President Graham Spanier were fired effective immediately by the Board of Trustees of Penn State University last night. It's about a decade overdue based on the facts and circumstances of the case released to date.

Penn State students rioted, overturning a news van and causing miscellaneous damage in the process. Why? That's how you support Coach Paterno, who didn't do enough to stop an alleged child predator and molestor who was his coach for years? Sorry, but Paterno made this mess by not doing the right thing morally or ethically. Moreover, think about what Paterno didn't do and admitted was his greatest regret - not standing up for the kids who were abused.

And I'm sorry, but the university sacking the president and Paterno is insufficient. Those who were sacking should themselves be sacked (to turn to Monty Python). There should have been a complete housecleaning of all those related to the Sandusky incidents.

Try reading through the grand jury report. If the students on campus had bothered to read what the grand jury had determined, they would have taken a completely different tact.

Moreover, it appears that the university didn't even bother to inform Paterno personally - instead delivering him a letter informing him of the firing (just hours after Paterno said that he would be resigning at the end of the season in hopes of avoiding this kind of ignominious end). That's bad form on the university if true, but par for the course for the university that has botched pretty much every aspect of this case from the moment it was informed of the potential abuse.

According to CNNSI, this scandal will cost the university millions. I think it will do a whole lot more than that. The football program, which was one of the biggest revenue sources for the university (and one of the largest in the nation), will cease to exist in the form that it did during Paterno's tenure. That's a huge revenue hit, which will affect every aspect of school operations.

$52+ million in revenue after expenses. Every year. Expect no more bowl appearances, players will look elsewhere for football programs that aren't tainted by scandal, and other athletic programs in the school will be adversely affected as well since the funds from the football program helped support lesser sports as well.


It will affect the endowment, and it will mean that school boosters and alumni will not give as they did prior to the scandal.

The scandal may not be a fatal blow, but it will be a crippling blow to the university and its national standing and reputation.

Joe Paterno To Step Down After Season In Wake Of Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal

Joe Paterno, the storied coach of the Penn State football team, will be announcing his retirement at the end of the season in wake of the sex abuse scandal involving his former defensive coach, Jerry Sandusky.

The person says Paterno will announce his retirement later Wednesday.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the decision has yet to be announced.

Paterno’s support among the Penn State board of trustees was described as “eroding” Tuesday, threatening to end the 84-year-old coach’s career amid a child sex-abuse scandal involving a former assistant and one-time heir apparent.

Paterno’s son, Scott, said his father hasn’t spoken with Penn State officials or trustees about stepping down. Addressing reporters outside his father’s house, he said Joe Paterno plans to not only coach in Saturday’s game against Nebraska, but for the long haul.

I'm sorry, but that's just insufficient. Paterno knew about the abuse, and he and the university went to great lengths to keep the matter private when law enforcement should have been involved the moment that another coach found Sandusky abusing a child in a Penn state athletic facility.

Everyone involved in the decision-making process at the university put the university's football program ahead of the interests of the children who were being abused by Sandusky. They barred Sandusky from bringing children on campus, as though that was sufficient; it wasn't. Officials looked the other way, and two of them are facing charges relating to the abuse.

People knew about the abuse, and left it to university officials to police the matter, but they instead did nothing. The university would say that it was complying with the letter of the law, which didn't require informing law enforcement, but that's quite besides the point. What about the morality and ethical responsibility to act to inform law enforcement of the potential abuse? Everyone looked the other way and thought the matter was closed, even as the abuse continued.

In some respects, the university handled matters in the same fashion as the Catholic Church has done in its own sex abuse scandals. It claimed to have acted according to the letter of the law, and yet the abuses continued for decades. The Church allowed children to be abused under its watch and it violated its trust with its parishioners.

The same thing has happened with Penn State; the university violated its trust with the public.

Yet, there's some on campus who think that Paterno shouldn't be forced to resign, be fired, or considered for possible charges. They think that Paterno has done nothing wrong.

That's just not true either. He looked the other way as the university went ahead and made a deal with Sandusky to stop bringing children from his charitable project on campus, but that didn't address the abuse that had been discovered. He put the football program ahead of the right thing to do.

And in that light, Paterno failed himself, his football program, the university, and the community at large.

Penn State Scandal Likely To Take Down Joe Paterno

The career flashing light is on for Joe Paterno. An ignominious end at that. After cancelling the regularly scheduled presser, Penn State is apparently working on how to send Paterno into retirement.

Paterno could be done as the football coach perhaps within days or weeks, the newspaper reported. He certainly will not return as coach next year, the newspaper reported.

A high-ranking Penn State official also says support for Paterno is eroding among the school's board of trustees.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. The person is familiar with the trustees' discussions but says it's unclear what the consequences for Paterno will be.
The person says a decision could be at hand before the board meets Friday.

Meanwhile, Scott Paterno is telling reporters that his father has had no talks with Penn State officials or trustees about stepping down. He told reporters outside his father's house Tuesday that Joe Paterno plans to not only coach in Saturday's game against Nebraska, but for the long haul.

Earlier Tuesday, Penn State's president abruptly canceled Paterno's weekly news conference amid increasing calls for both men to resign in the wake of a former assistant coach's sex-abuse scandal and as another potential victim came forward.

Whether he is fired or resigns, he's as good as gone and wont be back next year. Rightfully so too, I might add considering what he and others at the school knew or had reason to know about Jerry Sandusky.

Sex Assault Scandal Threatens To Take Down Penn State Sports Program

This is a story that broke over the weekend, but actually began more than a decade ago. A former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, for Joe Paterno's storied Penn State Nittany Lions football team was arrested for sexually abusing 8 boys over a 15 year period from 1994 to 2009, including some incidents that are believed to have occurred in a Penn State athletic building. Sandusky faces 40 abuse charges, including 21 felonies. He was released on $100,000 bail. Sandusky retired from Paterno's staff in 1999.

Sandusky apparently encountered the children through a charity he founded and operated called The Second Mile.

The allegations are bad enough, but the university's actions are reprehensible:

According to a grand-jury report, a Penn State graduate assistant claimed that on the night of March 1, 2002, he entered the football locker room and was surprised to hear the showers running and sexual sounds coming from that area. The young coach said he witnessed Sandusky sodomizing a boy he estimated to be 10 years old, that both the well-known former coach and the boy saw him, and that he raced to his office and called his father, who advised him to leave the building.

The graduate assistant went to Paterno’s home the next day to explain what he had seen. A day later, Paterno called athletic director Tim Curley to his home to relay the message.

More than a week passed before Curley and Gary Schultz, Penn State’s senior vice president for finance and business, called upon the graduate assistant for his direct version of events.

Curley and Schultz never reported the accusation to authorities, even though the grand-jury report indicated that Schultz testified he was aware of a 1998 investigation into shower incidents involving Sandusky and children in the football building. Sandusky retired in 1999, after 21 consecutive years as a Paterno assistant.

Curley and Schultz face charges of perjury to a grand jury and failure to report suspicion of child molestation.

Penn State’s president, Graham Spanier, expressed support for Curley and Schultz. The prosecutor didn’t. Neither Curley nor Schultz, after their lengthy delay in calling upon the graduate assistant, told university police about the allegation. They face perjury charges for claiming that the graduate assistant never informed them that sexual activity was involved.

Curley did ban Sandusky from bringing children on campus again, however, and Spanier approved the ban. The university president also never informed any police authorities, but was not charged.

So, at best, the AD and a university V-P were told about a possible child molestation in a football locker room; they waited a week-and-a-half to question the witness; they took action banning the alleged perpetrator -- a longtime former trusted employee -- from bringing children on campus; and the university president approved the ban, either knowing why he approved it, or not knowing why he approved it, which would be almost equally preposterous.

The arrest shook the campus to its core, and raises questions over who knew and when. It appears that at least several people knew about the sexual abuse, but did not alert the authorities. Two officials have resigned, and are facing charges themselves for obstruction of justice and perjury:

Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and a university administrator, Gary Schultz, will step down amid a sexual abuse scandal involving a former football assistant, the university announced early Monday morning.

Curley will take an administrative leave to defend himself against perjury charges, and Schultz will retire. The decision came during an executive session Sunday night involving Graham B. Spanier, the president of the university, and members of the university’s board of trustees.

The possibility of the resignations of Coach Joe Paterno and Spanier was reportedly not discussed at the meeting.

Curley and Schultz, the senior vice president for finance and business, were charged Saturday with perjury and failure to report to authorities what they knew of the allegations involving the former defensive coordinator, Jerry Sandusky, who was charged with 40 counts related to sexual abuse of boys.

Curley and Schultz deny any wrongdoing.

Mark Sherburne, the senior associate athletic director, will serve as interim athletic director.

“The board, along with the entire Penn State family, is shocked and saddened by the allegations involving former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky,” Steve Garban, the chairman of the board of trustees, said in a statement. “Under no circumstances does the university tolerate behavior that would put children at risk, and we are deeply troubled.”